


Inevitability

by proper_bean



Series: On Borrowed Resolve [1]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Any Catradora vibes here were unintentional but I thank my subconscious for them anyway, Contentious Allies, Enemies to Lovers, Equalist Asami Sato, Equalist Korra, F/F, F/M, Friends to Enemies, Friends to Enemies to Lovers, Friendship, Gen, It just takes a while, It’s all love in the end, Korra/Asami Sato-centric, Love, Season 1, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Trust
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:07:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 40,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28291389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/proper_bean/pseuds/proper_bean
Summary: Part 1 of an Equalist Asami and Equalist Korra (yup!) saga wherein Korra and Asami go from friends to enemies to contentious allies to lovers in a torturously slow burn.-After Avatar Aang passed, the world held its breath to meet the next avatar. However children in the Water Tribes started going missing, and it was clear that someone was kidnapping anyone that could be the new avatar. The White Lotus stepped up and confined any potential avatar they could find into secluded compounds for protection and basic training. At 13 years old, one of these children - a supposed non-bender from the Southern Water Tribe - escaped her compound. She found her way to Republic City and was rescued from an attempted Triad mugging by a group of activists that called themselves the Equalists.Her name was Korra, and she was about to find out what happens when an Equalist becomes an Avatar.-This series exists in the world of LoK but with some fun deviations from canon. Events will be reminiscent of show events but not quite parallel them. Along the way, our heroes will learn about life, love, and what it means to be better together. Korrasami will forever and always be endgame.
Relationships: Korra/Asami Sato, Korra/Mako (Avatar), Mako/Asami Sato
Series: On Borrowed Resolve [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2072292
Comments: 20
Kudos: 161





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A leader arises and two old friends talk about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Equalist Korra **_and_** Equalist Asami, anyone? Let’s do this!
> 
> Note: The prologue doesn't have much of our favorite women yet, but I promise the rest of the fic is very much centered on them. Also, I don't typically write OCs, and that is true here as well. One of the characters named here is someone we already know from the show but just given a larger role. And a name.  
> \---  
>  **Content Disclosure Categories** \- I have general categories for my content disclosures to reduce likelihood of direct spoilers. Categories will be copy/pasted at the start of relevant chapters, but those chapters may contain _**all or only some**_ of the content included in the list. Take care of yourselves, and take care of each other. :) The categories present in this work are:
> 
> [1] Mentions of blood, non-graphic depictions of violence, mentions of pain, more-than-a-little swearing, expressions of anger/aggression.
> 
> [2] Depictions of anxiety/panic, descriptions of fight/flight/freeze or panic response, abusive language, sexist language, unwelcome suggestive gestures/statements, non-explicit mentions of sexual harassment/assault.
> 
> [3] Blood, graphic/semi-graphic (but not excessively detailed) depictions of violence, descriptions of pain, descriptions of physical injury/harm, more-than-a-little swearing, aggressive/abusive language, verbal/physical assault.
> 
>  _Note: Anxiety, anger, pain, and aggression - as listed in the categories - are distinguished from character/dialogue-driven depictions of these experiences. There is natural angst and conflict in the plot, and there won’t be content warnings for the simpler character-conflict interactions._  
>  \---  
> FYI - This chapter doesn’t have any content disclosure warnings.

**_168 AG - 15 years after Avatar Aang’s passing_**

Today was a special occasion. 

Certainly, Hiroshi Sato was a stubborn man, and his preferred evening tea was no exception to this fact. A precisely steeped cup of gyokuro had been a part of his day ever since he became a successful enough businessman that such a commodity could become commonplace in his home. However, tonight - for the sake of his old friend - he was willing to be flexible. 

“You’re breaking out the keemun from somewhere under the cupboards for me, Hiroshi? That isn't necessary.” 

“Of course it is, Chen. Today has been a fine day for you. You don’t think I’d let you go on without celebrating, do you?” Hiroshi chuckled, a wide grin stretched across his face, accented by his well-groomed beard. 

Chen gripped his cup firmly and inhaled, appreciating the warmth seeping through his calloused fingers and the gentle, mildly fruity aroma of the tea permeating the room. He hummed softly in approval as he brought the cup to his lips. The two men sat comfortably on two high-backed chairs nestled in a quiet nook beneath one of the many staircases in the Sato estate. They both knew that today could very well be one of the few quiet nights they would have in a long while; it was worth appreciating. 

Hiroshi was the first to break the contented silence. “So this new guy, he seems to be the real deal?” 

“Yes,” Chen replied, his gruff voice curbing any gentleness he intended to reflect. “Amon has more than just a vision. He has plans, and they seem like the right way to go. He’s not like the others. Something’s different about him.” 

“That’s not something I take lightly, coming from you.” Hiroshi spoke with a lightness, but the significance of the moment did not escape him. “You’ve taken his offer?” 

“I did.” Chen idly twirled one side of his long mustache before letting it drop and returning to his tea. "His militia idea makes sense. People will feel more empowered. More unified. Have a greater sense of purpose." 

"And you would be designing the training program, too?" 

"Gradually, yes." 

Hiroshi gave a long, pensive sigh. "So we really are militarizing, it seems. It's not the direction I hoped we would go," his sharp gaze found Chen's, "but it may be the best way." 

"I'm not a big fan either, but the way it is now is too scattered. No one takes the Equalist movement seriously." Chen's low voice was almost at a growl. "The public mostly sees us as protestors or vandals. And you know, they aren't far off." 

"It's alright, old friend," Hiroshi responded quickly, reaching over to place a comforting hand on Chen's forearm. "We all want it to get better." 

The grizzled man relaxed slightly at his friend's gesture. "I'm tired of waiting for them to listen to us. Things are getting worse, not better." 

"Don't worry. If you think this Amon's plan is the way to go, that is all I need to know." 

Chen cocked an eyebrow. "You’re taking his offer as well?” 

“Just to meet,” Hiroshi corrected tightly but with kindness. “I would like to size him up myself before I make anything official, but your confidence in him means a lot to me. And you know I wouldn't let you do this without me.” 

Chen grunted in acknowledgement and once again twirled the dark, wiry hairs of his mustache. “Should we tell the girls? They're getting older. They could start getting more involved.” 

“Perhaps not yet. We should wait to see if Amon is going to stick.” 

“I think you’re right. We have been disappointed before, haven’t we?” a hint of amusement tugged at the edge of Chen’s lips. 

Hiroshi’s cheer was less subtle, his smile wide and a glimmer in his eye. “We really have seen our fair share of characters try to ‘ _Unify the movement_ ,’” he said, with a mocking tone. 

“What happened to that one anyway?” Chen said, full joy finally cracking through his innate stoicism. 

“Isn’t he still a fish cleaner?” 

“No, that’s the ‘ _Come together for equalness’_ guy.” 

“That’s right. I haven’t been keeping track.” 

“There isn’t much of a point once they embarrass their way away from the movement.” 

“I guess so,” Hiroshi chuckled once more before straightening his demeanor. “What’s Amon’s thing?” 

“There’s no thing. No catchphrase. Just a plan.” 

Hiroshi nodded pensively. “That’s promising. He is different, then.” 

“Yes.” 

“Maybe we will be able to tell the girls then. We should still wait and see a bit, first.” 

“If our plans gain any ground, then we should probably tell them sooner rather than later,” Chen said, only slightly surprised at his use of the word _‘our’_ after having only just agreed to Amon’s offer. “My plan right now is to have everyone over 18 beginning training, but if it goes well, then we’ll be pushing it back to 16. The girls are right around the age, but we can wait. The roll out will still take time.” 

Hiroshi placed his barely-touched tea mug on his side table. “Agreed. Best to ramp them up from their current tasks and have them focus on what matters to them.” 

“The Triads, you mean,” Chen quipped, amusement returning to his eyes. 

They shared another round of chuckles, and then Hiroshi casually stretched his arms behind his head. “It’s _your_ ward that keeps talking about cracking some Triad skulls.” 

“She’s got spirit, that one,” Chen said with fondness. “Even after everything she went through at the compound, she’s here, and she’s pushing.” 

“She has come a long way, Chen. I can’t begin to understand what she went through with that misguided potential avatar search. How many kids do you think are still trapped somewhere in the snow? She’s lucky to have escaped. You’ve done well with her.” 

“ _We’ve_ done well, old friend,” Chen replied. “She’s probably spent more nights here than at my place. I couldn’t have done this without you.” 

Hiroshi beamed with pride. “Our girls are essentially welded together, aren’t they? They’re good for each other. I can’t wait to see how far they can take us one day.” 

“You and me both, Hiroshi.” Chen poured himself a second helping of tea. “But we need to focus on what we can now. Amon wants to move quickly. Speaking of that failed avatar search, Amon has said he wants to act while there is no avatar.” 

“The man is borrowing from history,” Hiroshi nodded - pensive. "I'm assuming he's thinking about the 100-year war.” 

Chen tapped the side of his mug, calluses making a soft _clink_ on the ceramic. "Unlike the Fire Nation, we can come out on top, though. We can make this the era for non-benders.” 

“I agree, but we won’t have a Sozin’s Comet to give us a boost,” Hiroshi commented. 

“True,” he replied, seriousness underlying the tone of his banter. “But we don’t need it. We’ll have a Hiroshi Sato.” 

The businessman stared at his friend with a blank expression for just a moment, having been caught off guard by the praise. A roaring laughter soon echoed throughout the room. “You drive a hard bargain, Chen. However, I do believe I already implied that I was on board.” 

“You did, but - as you say - a little flattery can help seal the deal.” Chen stood, a silent acknowledgement of the time. 

“I will see you tomorrow. Congratulations, once again, Chen.” Hiroshi clapped his hand on the slim man's shoulder as he also rose to his feet. “Or perhaps I should say - Lieutenant?” 

A rumbling chuckle passed his lips. “That’ll be something to get used to.” 

“A well-deserved honor, if I do say so myself.” Hiroshi kept his grin even as he stepped forward, tilting his head towards the top of the stairs. “Hey, girls!” he called out. “Chen is leaving.” 

Moments later, a shuffling of footsteps rushed towards the railing of the staircase. 

Hiroshi’s eyes automatically softened at the sight of his daughter; she was becoming quite the young woman. “Asami, say bye to our guest.” 

Her green eyes shone with joy, undoubtedly still carrying the laughter of some joke she was sharing with her best friend moments earlier. “Bye, Chen. Thanks for dropping this one off,” she said, elbowing the giggling girl beside her. 

Chen stared up and matched Hiroshi’s soft glance. “You two behave now. Especially you,” he said with a wink, directed at his ward. 

The water tribe girl stuck her lip out in an exaggerated pout. “You know I can’t promise that.” 

He smiled with pride. “Well try your best, then. Goodnight, Korra.” 

“Goodnight!” she replied, her pout breaking into a large grin. 

Chen shook his head jokingly and nodded a goodbye to Hiroshi before stepping out into the cold night, taking a long moment to admire the sight of the city he held so close to his heart. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Korrasami has reinvigorated something within me and inspired me to want to share some of my writing again. This will be my first published fanfic in well over a decade and my absolute first for the LoK community, so thank you all for coming on this journey with me. I've been a lurker for a bit, so I feel connected to so many of you already. I’m happy to be a part of this amazing LoK fanwork community. :)
> 
> \- This particular work is almost fully written. I intend to post every 3-5 days until completion.
> 
> \- FYI Gyokuro and keemun are types of tea. I have seen different romanizations, and I chose ones that I found to be common. Apologies if they are not the preferred spellings for those who speak the languages.  
> \---  
> In order to allow readers to experience this work with less interruption from my personal commentary, most endnotes will be minimal. All chapter notes will be published in an Author’s Note chapter at the conclusion of this work. Thank you all and I hope you’re enjoying it!
> 
> _This chapter was written with the help of songs like:_  
>  _Pray for Sound - Spiral_


	2. Chapter 1: The Future is in Good Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _In the previous chapter: A leader arises and two old friends talk about it._  
>  \---  
>  **In this chapter:** Korra and Asami test some things out and then get to work.

**_169 AG - 16 years after Avatar Aang’s passing_**

Korra was bored. 

At least, she claimed so. Loudly. Several times. Within the last half an hour. 

Her giggles, on the other hand, told a different story. 

Asami was testing out tweaks that she had made on a new design for the Equalist uniforms. She told Korra that it would hopefully provide greater protection against different elements while still allowing for decent mobility. It was a challenging balance, but Asami seemed to love applying herself to these types of projects. 

The fact that she could also poke and prod Korra during much of the process appeared to be a much-valued bonus. At times, Korra wondered if that was actually Asami’s primary goal. 

“Would you just hold still for a second, you big baby?” the young innovator said, tugging at some material near Korra’s midsection. 

“But I’m so bored,” she replied, making sure to drag out her last words for dramatic emphasis. 

“Oh, you are? Tell me one more time, since I don’t think I got the message the first few times.” 

“Okay. Asami, I’m so bo-” she was cut off by a decisive flick to her ear. “Hey! Excuse me? Ouch?” 

“Come on, Korra,” Asami chided, matching Korra’s histrionics with an equally dramatic eye-roll. “If this is so bad, you can always go back to your _'security'_ shift," she said, using an air-quotation gesture for emphasis, "in the - what did you call them? Oh, the _'Boring Places.'_ " 

Korra groaned but with more authenticity than exaggeration. "I mean, that does get pretty boring, too. All we really do is help move and haul boxes around." 

"What isn't boring to you?" 

"Cracking some Triad skulls!" she responded automatically while flexing her knuckles and looking at her best friend with a devilish glint in her expressive, blue eyes. 

The innovator sighed. "You know, the last time you had that look in your eye, we got into a ton of trouble with Chen and my dad." 

The memory only served to make Korra's devilish glint even sharper. "We kicked a lot of ass, though, didn't we?" 

Asami let herself smile, and she wrinkled her nose slightly in a miniature expression of glee. “We did.” 

Korra felt a warmth creep up her chest at the recollection. She and Asami both knew that behind their scolding eyes, Chen and Hiroshi were deeply impressed by what the girls had done - though they would never knowingly admit such a thing out loud. 

“Hey, Korra, if you’re looking for some action, then how about we test out the suit a little?” 

“Oh, this thing is ready for a test run already? You’ve been working fast these days, Asami.” 

“I guess.” Asami idly released her wavy, black hair from its loose ponytail and shook it out before tying it back up higher on her head. “We’ve all been a bit busier since Amon took charge, don’t you think? Chen and my dad have been away more, so I’ve been pushing more ideas forward for my dad.” 

“Oh, yeah. I guess so. I didn’t really notice.” Korra lifted her arms and swung slightly back and forth to test the fit and weight of the uniform. 

“I know you didn’t, Korra. You’re more of a do-er than a noticer,” Asami said with a mischievous wink before trotting away to one of the workout spaces in the estate. 

Korra sputtered for a moment before collecting her thoughts and chasing after her best friend. “Yeah, well, you don’t have to point it out like that!” 

\--- 

Asami waited patiently for Korra to catch up to her in the training area, and she watched as her best friend nearly collapsed in a contagious fit of giggles. There were always so many giggles when the two were together. 

Once they regained most of their composure, they began with their established testing routine. Asami observed Korra carefully as she tested the range of the suit. Korra made a few comments about the fit or hitches in certain movements, but Asami noted that Korra had less to say than usual. She hoped that it meant the suit was, for the most part, working out. 

The next step of the test was more involved; Asami and Korra always started out slowly with sparring-like movements. The two trained together often, but this was meant to be a test, not a sparring session. They started at a smooth, methodical pace before increasing their movements into a steady, flowing dance. Asami only made contact with the suit a few times, and Korra allowed it to test for general impact absorption. 

The greatest challenge in the testing routine was one that they could not easily solve. The original uniforms were designed to be a generic symbol of the movement while also providing moderate protection in a fight. However, the new uniforms were designed to also be water-resistant and fire-resistant. They were also supposed to somewhat disperse large impacts. 

The material was designed to face benders; neither Asami nor Korra were benders, and so the effectiveness of those features couldn’t be tested well - at least not unless they took the suits to the field themselves. 

Hence, the aforementioned Triad-ass-kicking and the Chen-and-Hiroshi scolding that followed. 

Asami didn’t want to go through the trouble of finding some bending criminals today, but she also didn’t feel like stopping at the usual juncture in their testing either. She was feeling particularly energized, and so she changed her movements partway through the end of the testing session. 

Korra seemed quick to notice and paused, cocking her head playfully. “Asami? Are you doing an earthbending form?” 

A sly smirk parted the innovator’s lips, “Yes, so?" 

"You're not bending anything." 

"You wouldn't be bending anything either! You can still at least practice your mobility if you just pretend something's being bent when I move." 

The water tribe native matched her best friend’s smirk. “Well, if we were planning on doing bending forms, why aren’t you the one in the suit? I know the forms better than you.” 

“Maybe I just wanted to play dress-up with you. Ever think about that?” 

“I knew it!” Korra said with an accusatory point of her finger, mentally confirming her beliefs about Asami’s true priorities. 

The giggles returned. 

Once they subsided, Korra moved to stand next to Asami and face the same direction she was. “Do you want to practice a little?” she looked back and forth slightly, as if to confirm that the coast was clear. The coast was, indeed, clear. 

“Always,” Asami winked. 

The pair moved slowly and steadily through an assortment of forms from different styles of bending. Despite her hesitation about the raw power that benders possessed, Asami held a moderate fascination with the forms and styles themselves. Practicing bending forms happened with some frequency whenever Korra and Asami trained together, but Asami still held onto a knob of guilt when they did so. She always wondered if Korra actually enjoyed practicing them or whether they brought up bad memories. Asami had the privilege of studying and learning the forms for her own knowledge and exploration; Korra was forced to learn them at a young age on the off-chance that she was going to become the arbiter of balance for the whole world. 

Asami knew that she owed the existence of her beloved city and hometown to an avatar, but she also knew that his legacy was full of oversight regarding the balance of Republic City. Also, this new avatar was either missing or simply did not exist anymore; either way, the reliance the world had on the avatar led those with authority to pull unassuming children like Korra from their homes to train in near-isolation. 

All because they had the same birthday. 

In Asami’s mind, it was no wonder that Korra ran away. How she managed to become such a joyful and focused person despite all that was beyond her. 

So when Korra offered to teach Asami bending forms and practice them with her routinely, Asami felt a duality of emotions - a sense of sadness about how Korra knew the forms and a swell of pride and honor that she would be allowed into such a vulnerable part of Korra’s history. 

Asami was not the only one that considered Korra’s non-bending bending training to be a sensitive topic. 

“Girls,” a gruff voice called evenly from the doorway. 

Korra and Asami froze briefly and exchanged a knowing glance. The coast was no longer clear. 

The young women dropped their stances and looked up to find a serious-looking Hiroshi and even-more-serious-looking Chen staring at them, their faces otherwise expressionless. 

Hiroshi maintained the stillness in his face even as he spoke, but his voice was calm. “You know you have to be careful practicing those. Other Equalists might not be very understanding about where Korra came from.” 

“But Dad, don’t you think they should be? I mean, it's terrible what’s happened with these kids. First someone tries to kidnap them, so the world reacts by locking them up instead,” Asami pleaded, feeling confident in what she was saying. “And Korra is here now, and she’s working with us! It would make people love her more, no?” 

Chen’s eyes narrowed - at least it seemed so - but it was hard to tell with his expression so stern. “You might not be wrong, but still. There might not be enough who understand. If word got out, they might try to have you sent back to the South. And our movement is getting better, but there are still many of our people who might not be welcoming, yet. It would be even harder if they knew you were trained like a bender.” 

“I guess so,” Korra conceded before immediately deciding to double-back around. “I think it makes me a better fighter, though. It’s not bad to learn different styles,” she offered with an uncertain, begging grin. 

Asami almost wanted to laugh at her best friend’s attempt at making a convincing argument. Instead, she tried her best to maintain eye-contact with her father. 

The men paused for a long moment, shifting their eyes subtly from the girls to each other and then back to the girls. Unable to maintain their composure any longer, the men began to laugh. Then the girls did, too. 

The giggles were back, once again. 

“You know, these two are getting a bit too fiery for us,” Hiroshi laughed, mirth dripping from his voice. “I don’t know how much longer we can keep up.” 

Chen grinned, pulling up the sharp features of his grizzled face. “They’ll be outsmarting us before we know it.” He walked up to Korra and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “But for now, please be careful. You two might not be wrong, but not every Equalist will understand that yet.” 

Hiroshi chimed in. “There are still many grumpy old men like us in charge. One of these days, when you take over, you can prove us wrong. The future is in good hands with you two around.” 

Korra nodded sheepishly with a nervous smile; Asami could tell that she was happy but still uncomfortable with the praise. 

“Now,” Chen said, the joy dropping from his face as it returned to it’s natural, sedate expression, “Korra, I’ll need you to take that security shift after all. I’m sorry.” 

“Why so sudden? I thought you had enough people that I could stay here for the day.” 

The lightness dropped from Hiroshi’s face as well and then from the entire room. 

Asami couldn’t hide the sadness in her voice. “More deserters?” 

“Unfortunately, yes.” Chen locked his piercing eyes with Korra’s. “We need young people like you now more than ever. Sure, it’s just warehouse work now, but it won’t be forever. Amon has great plans for everyone and you two will definitely have roles in it.” 

“Okay,” Korra replied, content with the explanation. 

On the other hand, Asami was feeling the disappointment of her best friend leaving so soon on top of processing the loss of more members of the Equalist movement. She perked up enough to bid Korra and Chen a proper goodbye, and she reminded Korra to change out of the test uniform before she left. The innovator let out a small sigh and looked towards her father’s gentle gaze. It always surprised Asami when she remembered that she no longer had to look up to meet her father’s eyes. There was no escaping the effects of time. 

When Hiroshi recognized that Asami was in her head, he usually waited until she was ready to speak, but his concern about the suddenness of her change in demeanor overtook his patience. “What’s on your mind, darling?” 

The young innovator shrugged, trying to deflect some of her disappointment with a show of apathy. It didn’t work very well. “We’ve just been having a lot more deserters lately. I don’t understand.” 

“Some people don’t understand change, Asami. The movement has been unifying in the past year. We are stronger together, but there are some people who don’t understand that and are afraid.” 

“I guess, but it still doesn’t make sense to me. We’re just trying to make Republic City better for non-benders. All benders have a nation somewhere. We’re not doing anything crazy! We just want non-benders to have a place to have pride in, too. What are people afraid of?” 

“I know, darling. Fighting for this isn’t for everyone, but here you are, still trying to make it better for every single person. Don’t lose sight of that.” 

“I won’t, Dad. It’s just frustrating. We’re doing so much better now that Amon stepped up as a leader, but now that the movement has a face, it’s like the other side has an enemy to focus on. There’s just so much misinformation about the Equalists out there, and it’s getting worse. No wonder people are leaving us.” 

“Don’t let it get to you.” He placed a strong hand on her forearm and kept her gaze with intensity. “You have so much spirit, just like your mother. Don’t forget who you got that from. You’re going to do so many amazing things. I’m proud of you.” 

“I’m proud of you, too,” Asami replied with a friendly eye roll; the response was automatic at this point, an running joke between them that began as soon as Asami was old enough to develop a healthy sense of sarcasm. 

Hiroshi wrapped his daughter in a short, but loving embrace. "I know I have been more busy lately. It's been a little bit since we worked on something together. What do you need help with?" 

She smiled brightly. In some ways her father knew her so well, and Asami knew she would always be a bit of a daddy's girl. The idea that she would one day take over for him - the idea that he would someday be gone - terrified her. 

In reality, Asami stopped needing much of her father's help with her designs and calculations years ago. This was particularly apparent after Korra came into her life about three years prior. Asami had someone else to churn through her many ideas with. It was then that Asami realized that she didn’t need input as much as she just needed a sounding board; Korra was far from knowledgeable about most of what Asami talked about, but she was attentive and asked questions. Asami realized that she could figure out the rest on her own. 

Still, she was not ready for her father to stop thinking that she needed him around. 

So she made sure that she still asked questions. She made sure to ask for help with her work as much as possible, even when she knew what direction she wanted to go. She kept her notes vague and with blank spaces so that her father could physically see how much she still needed him. She cherished their time together more than anything, and she knew she would miss it terribly when it was gone. 

Asami took an intentional pause, taking the time to think about what project would be fun to work on alongside her father. "Can we look at those motorcycle designs again? I think I'm close to figuring out a way to balance out the speed problem." 

"Of course," he said, beaming. He began to walk away but was stopped when Asami gently tugged at his arm. 

"Hey, Dad?" 

"Yes, darling?" 

"I love you." 

He paused, blinking away a swell of emotion as he leaned up to give her a small kiss on the forehead. "I love you, too, Asami." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _This chapter was written with the help of songs like:  
>  Have Mercy - Spacecrafts  
> Tigers Jaw - The Sun_


	3. Chapter 2: Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _In the previous chapter: Korra and Asami test some things out and then get to work._  
>  \---  
>  **In this chapter:** Korra’s day at the warehouse gets interesting, Asami’s smarter than she lets on, and Korra’s interesting day makes Asami feel things.

Korra was taking a break in an alley by the warehouse’s side entrance and was resting on some boxes. She had also spent most of the day moving boxes. 

Her day was governed by a seemingly endless supply of boxes. 

Said boxes had been increasing in number lately, but it wasn't Korra's job to know what was in them or why they were steadily multiplying. All she needed to do was check the numbers, move the loads, and keep watch of the warehouse in general. It was simple enough and definitely fitting for someone as high-energy as Korra. However, it wasn't the most stimulating of assignments either. 

As Korra liked to say - it was boring. Mind-numbingly so. As a matter of fact, Korra had a specific name for the warehouses in the same way that she had her own names for each of the Equalists' labeled locations. She generally referred to the warehouses as the _'Boring Places'_ for rather obvious reasons. 

The increase in her menial workload was not the only reason that Korra was feeling irritable today. She hadn't seen Asami for almost four full days, which was their record for longest time apart since first meeting a little over three years ago. Both of them had been extra busy with their assignments - Korra with physical labor and security and Asami with design and innovation. The Equalist movement was seeing more deserters, but they were also developing a strong, somewhat-underground presence, which invigorated those who chose to stay. 

In Korra's world, though, that just translated to more boxes. And sometimes dress-up time or math-talk time with Asami. But mostly boxes. 

The Water Tribe native was in great physical shape, but she still took advantage of frequent breaks; rather than serving as a way to physically recover, the breaks were typically spent allowing Korra to breathe and act like a human again before she went back into box-moving-machine mode. 

It was nearing the end of her break, and Korra was preparing to put her brain away again when she caught sound of what seemed to be a blossoming argument around the corner. She glanced over at the other three Equalists working the warehouse shift with her; they noticed it too and also diverted their attention to the commotion. 

They all knew the drill by now - don’t cause any or step into any trouble unless absolutely necessary. They didn’t want people to realize that this was an Equalist warehouse; not even every member of the movement was privy to each and every location under the group’s use. However, tensions had been rising between Equalists and the public, so security workers like Korra had to be on-alert for ploys to invade their spaces or gather private information. Arguments like this were good ways to distract mind-numbed, box-moving guards if they weren’t careful. 

As far as she could tell, it seemed that an unfortunate citizen was confronted for handing out Equalist flyers and was now getting shaken down by some very grumpy looking people. Korra couldn’t tell whether the citizen was a part of the movement or just a sympathizer, but that wasn’t a surprise. Chen made sure that Korra’s visibility in the movement was rather minimal in order to protect her from anyone who may be looking for an escaped potential avatar. Consequently, this meant that Korra wouldn’t be able to recognize most Equalists anyway. 

Still, watching a trembling man surrounded by increasingly-aggressive benders stirred a rage within her. She couldn’t sit by and let this happen, and she felt the urge to jump into the fray. However, she had more restraint than that and reminded herself of Chen’s warnings; Korra begrudgingly told herself to follow protocol. 

Being the closest to the scene, she decided to stay and keep watch, and she signaled to another security worker to get Chen. Thankfully he was working upstairs today and could make the executive decisions about how to handle this. Korra flexed her hands and popped her knuckles, hoping that he would arrive quickly and decide that they should take some action. Even if this wasn’t a ploy to spy on the warehouse, having a scene caused in front of one of their locations could also be problematic. As the argument outside appeared to get more heated, Korra’s muscles began to tingle with excitement. 

It was daylight and they were working in the open, meaning no one was in uniform or had masks to conceal their faces. Remembering Chen’s special instructions for her specifically, she pulled up her turtleneck and hood, hiding everything but her clear blue eyes, which shone with a devilish glint. 

She couldn’t wait to tell Asami about this one. 

\--- 

“Hey Dad, I think we figured it out,” Asami called, holding her notes in the direction of her father. 

Hiroshi dropped his pen and walked over from his own notes to glance at Asami’s. They had been working on separate designs for most of the day but spent much of the time shouting ideas across the room or walking over to review each other’s work. Asami loved days like this and made a mental note to find a way to thank her father for agreeing to work from home today, knowing that it wasn’t an easy ask. They were a busy pair these days, constantly churning out ideas and designs for both the Equalists as well as Hiroshi’s business conglomerate Future Industries. 

Asami smiled as she watched her father adjust his glasses and ruffle his beard in thought. She loved seeing him like this - in engineer mode. His sleeves were rolled up, his hair wasn’t slicked back, he was constantly muttering something to himself, and he had a tendency to sit on top of any surface except a chair. At this moment, he was seated thoughtfully at the edge of her desk. Hiroshi had become an elite businessman over the years and always made sure to look the part when necessary, but Asami’s fondest memories were of this less-buttoned-up Hiroshi Sato, which she was beginning to see less and less of. 

“It looks like we did,” he said absently, likely running a second or third check in his mind. “That’s great, darling. I’m proud of you.” 

“I’m proud of you too, Dad.” 

He chuckled and straightened his back, taking the opportunity to stretch since he wasn’t leaning over his own desk. “So what are your next steps, Asami?” 

Her smile widened. Her dad’s engineer mode often overlapped with his teacher mode. “Well,” she took an intentionally long pause and looked away in thought, “I think we’re actually ready to build a prototype of this thing.” 

“That’s right,” he beamed. He did another once-over through the earlier sections of her notes. “Some of these parts we have in-house but some we will need to get or have custom made at the factory. Could you make a list for me? I’ll put that order in right away so you can work on it.” 

“Alright, but I’ve been wondering about something, Dad.” 

“I’d be surprised if you weren’t always thinking about something,” he teased. 

She rolled her eyes. “And you wonder where I get my sass from.” 

He laughed and kept his gaze on her, patient as always. 

“What are we designing this engine for, anyway? I read the order form, but it didn’t say what it was going to be used for.” 

“Did the form say who pitched it?” 

“No. I think this is one of the team pitches from one of the Future Industries idea briefings.” 

“Oh, those are always fun ones.” 

She giggled in response. “They are, and this is a great machine, but I just don’t know why we would need an aircraft engine this small and powerful. A smaller craft can’t carry a lot of people or cargo, and the build will actually be more expensive than the larger ones we make for the airships. It’s a great breakthrough, but I just don’t see what Future Industries would use it for.” 

He shrugged. “Well, I signed off on the pitch and order form at some point, so it must have seemed like a good idea at the time,” he ran a hand through his hair nonchalantly. “Sometimes, it’s just the innovation that matters, and then we can find ways to use it that maybe no one thought of before because they didn’t even think it was possible. Sometimes we have to deviate from our norm for progress. We can’t be-” 

“-can’t be afraid to shake things up,” Asami said, completing the thought in amusement. Her father loved using his sayings when he went into teacher mode. 

“That’s right.” He then looked at her a little more seriously. “You know, Asami, you don’t usually get so caught up in the why’s. Usually you’re just happy to figure out the how’s. Is something bothering you?” 

The young innovator sighed, having been caught. She was having a good day with her father, but she certainly was a little more irritable than usual. “You’re going to think it’s silly, but it’s been almost four days since I’ve seen Korra. I just miss her.” 

He hummed knowingly and nodded. “Yes, that is your record, isn’t it? I’m sorry, Asami. We have been keeping you two busy, haven’t we?” 

“Dad, it’s okay-” 

“No, Asami, I understand.” He leaned over and put a warm hand on her shoulder. “You are quite the pair, and I love the way you push each other. It’s okay to miss her. She and Chen should be coming over tomorrow.” 

“I know,” she responded, leaning into her father’s comforting touch. “It’s not your fault we’ve been busy. I know the Equalists have been a bit short-handed these days.” A hint of bitterness slipped into her words. “I just wish people weren’t so alarmist about everything. First the Triads start causing fights and we get blamed for violence, and now even the Council is starting to talk about the Equalist message as being violent. It’s starting to feel less safe than before.” 

“I wish I could say you were wrong, but just remember that Amon’s next steps are to try to smooth relations with the public. We’ll have chances to work with benders and non-benders alike to get the right message out there, even if some of us won’t be officially doing it under the Equalist name because of the stigma. It will still be worthwhile, I’m sure. Chen said that there may be a role for you in all of that.” 

She nodded confidently. “I’m looking forward to that. I hope I can meet Amon one day. He seems to know what he’s doing with all of this.” 

If Asami had been more attentive - or perhaps more suspicious - she would have noticed the subtle tensing of Hiroshi’s jaw at her statement and thought something of it. However, she simply assumed that her father was experiencing the same frustrations about the public tensions as she was. How could he not be? 

“Yes, Amon seems to be an impressive man,” he replied, slow and measured. “I would like to meet him as well. So far, it seems that only Chen and a few others have. He’s been very cautious.” 

“He has, but I understand it.” 

Hiroshi gave his daughter one more quick squeeze on the shoulder before returning to his work. 

\--- 

After an hour of productive partial-silence, a booming knock on the estate entrance brought Hiroshi and Asami to their feet. The door opened before they got there, giving some indication as to who it was. Only four people outside of a handful of servants had front-door access to the estate. 

“Asami! You won’t believe what happened!” 

Korra saw Asami brighten at the sound of her voice only for concern to wash over her face moments later. Korra had a small welt on the side of her jaw and a few clearly visible scrapes on her knuckles. The amount of energy she displayed proved that she was largely alright, but Korra could tell that Asami didn’t like to see her hurt at all. 

“What happened?” Hiroshi’s voice called from behind, more directed at Chen, who walked briskly behind his enthusiastic ward. 

Chen’s hand made its way to Korra’s shoulder, steadying her joyful bounce and indicating that he was going to explain before she had a chance to. “There was just a little scuffle outside of one of the northern warehouses.” 

Hiroshi’s jaw tensed with unease for the second time that day - this time being less subtle than the last. “Was anything taken?” 

“I don’t believe so,” Chen replied. “Still, you and I should probably go over the details. Sorry for barging in.” 

“Don’t apologize, old friend. Let’s leave these two and talk in my study.” 

Chen nodded and gave Korra a reassuring tap before he turned to leave. “You did well, Korra. Now, go get your face taken care of.” 

Korra pouted but nodded. Her pout dissipated immediately once she realized she could now tell her best friend the more fun version of the story. 

She began talking almost non-stop as Asami grabbed her by the hand and dragged her from the kitchen to get ice and then to the bathroom to get cleaned up. Korra’s excitement and wild arm gestures only grew as she got to the best parts. 

“Then, we pretended to start arguing on the other side of the building to draw those Triad assholes - well I think they were Triads but who knows. Anyway, we drew them away from the warehouse before we-” she stopped suddenly after catching a look in Asami’s eye that she couldn’t quite identify. It was now Korra’s turn to be concerned. “Asami, are you okay?” 

Her green eyes snapped back to reality and averted themselves from Korra’s caring gaze. “Sorry, I’m happy you got to see some action. I’m just worried, that’s all.” 

“Hey, it’s alright.” Korra brought her hand up towards her own face, gently covering the hand Asami had been using to ice the welt on Korra’s jaw. “I’m alright.” 

“I know,” her best friend responded, trying to keep her voice from shaking. “I just don’t want you getting hurt. I don’t want anyone getting hurt.” 

“It’s just a bruise, and they didn’t bend at us much. It was just a small scuffle.” 

“I know, but it’s getting scarier out there. What would have happened if they used more bending and actually wanted to hurt you? What then? It’s not safe for non-benders anymore. That man could have been hurt just for handing out flyers. You all could have been hurt. The tensions are just getting too high.” 

Korra gently pulled Asami’s hand away from her face, bringing it down to her lap and squeezing it firmly. “We don’t have to be scared, Asami. This is what we’re working to fix, right? Don’t worry. We’re all working together on this.” 

“You’re right,” she sighed, finally letting Korra’s comfort sink in. “I just don’t want to lose anyone else. You, my dad, Chen, and the rest of the Equalists too, in a way - you’re all family to me. I can’t lose any more of my family, Korra.” 

Bright, blue eyes pulled Asami’s gaze upwards as Korra used her other hand to remove the ice from Asami’s grasp and place her palm flush with Asami’s. Just through that simple gesture - firmly grasping one of Asami’s trembling hands in both of her own - Korra tried to communicate a sea of promises. “Asami, you won’t lose us. You won’t lose me, okay? I’m never going to leave you behind. We’re in this together, right? Better together?” 

Asami seemed to study the way Korra’s earthen-toned hands wrapped around hers, and Korra hoped that she understood the symbolism in that contact. Asami was such a big part of Korra’s world. Korra wanted to be a rock to steady her, as reliable as the earth beneath her feet. Korra just wanted Asami to believe in that. In Asami’s stronger moments, Asami could push them both forward, and in the moments Asami wasn’t feeling as strong, Korra hoped she knew that she could turn to her. With that steady grip, she was begging Asami to trust in that. 

“Right. Better together.” 

A wave of relief washed over Korra as a warm, crooked smile cracked her lips. Asami had let her in, and even if it was just for the moment, Korra relished it. 

She knew that Asami was afraid. She knew how carefully Asami protected herself. Korra would do anything she could to protect Asami so she wouldn’t have to try so hard. 

Perhaps Korra didn’t feel the same way about family that Asami did. Korra hadn’t had strong family bonds in the same way that Asami had and so by nature, Korra tended to spread her care to everyone around her. Even Chen, who had saved Korra from Triads and taken her in, was not family to Korra in the same way that Hiroshi was family to Asami. 

So, perhaps Korra didn’t understand family in the same way that Asami did, but she didn’t need to. 

She understood everything that Asami was afraid to lose because that’s how Korra felt about Asami. Korra was going to be there for Asami, and Asami would be there for her. 

They were better when they were together, that’s all Korra needed to know. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found that I’ve really enjoyed writing the early Hiroshi & Asami interactions in every chapter of this fic. They’ve been some of my favorite parts.  
> \---  
>  _This chapter was written with the help of songs like:  
>  Seahaven - On the Floor  
> Jimmy Eat World - Cautioners_


	4. Chapter 3: With Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _In the previous chapter: Korra’s day at the warehouse gets interesting, Asami’s smarter than she lets on, and Korra’s interesting day makes Asami feel things._  
>  \---  
>  **In this chapter:** Asami and Korra get new assignments.

Asami was in a near-constant state of thought, and Korra found it fascinating. At any given moment, she could ask Asami what was on her mind, and she would almost always have something interesting to say. Asami was always observing, analysing, and wondering. 

Korra, on the other hand, tended to move through the world instinctually rather than cognitively. Asami had been correct when claiming that Korra was more of a do-er rather than a noticer. It wasn’t that Korra was thoughtless or even that impulsive; instead, she usually felt her way through the world and then shifted or adapted to whatever circumstances presented themselves. Her actions were often dictated by an intangible sense that she could only aptly describe as a gut feeling - a push or pull in a certain direction. 

Perhaps, that was one of the reasons they complemented each other so well. Both were inquisitive and perceptive by nature but approached everything from different directions. They balanced each other out and kept each other centered. 

So when Chen told Asami what her next task would be, it made sense that Korra was present and sent off to help her with the planning. He also mentioned that there was no point in only telling Asami because she would inevitably involve Korra anyway. 

But was beside the point. The dynamic duo was better together and no amount of caretaker-snarkiness would take away from that fact. 

The two retired to Asami’s bedroom and began doing research in comfortable silence. Preparation was important, and Korra wanted to ensure that Asami would stay safe. It was not ideal to be labeled as an Equalist in the eyes of the public these days, so the movement maintained secrecy for most of their major operations when possible. Amon was methodical and elusive, so he leaned on other Equalists to assist him in gathering information about ways that non-benders could advocate for more inclusion or equality. He would use this information to plan his next steps and then use trusted advisors such as Chen to deliver the assignments. 

Also, in order to satisfy the fire of the early members of the Equalist movement, they often investigated possible ties to Triad activity. Prior to unifying under Amon’s leadership, most Equalist cells acted as vigilantes, stepping up to curb organized criminal activity when the city failed to do so. Asami’s task fell under this category, and Korra was admittedly envious. 

Asami was to investigate one of the pro-bending gyms. Pro-bending was an up-and-coming sport, and Chen mentioned a few rumors that there may be Triad ties to several of the athletes. There were a few gyms dedicated to training people who wanted to become pro-benders, and it was possible that some of these gyms were fronts for criminal behavior. She was assigned to the largest gym - the one that had a new arena being built next to it. 

Despite her attempts to live vicariously through Asami’s assignment, Korra found herself getting bored of the research process. This information-gathering-thing did not suit her as well as it did the young innovator. Still, there was no place that she’d rather be than surrounded by a splay of papers on Asami’s bed, finding ways to turn her best friend into an effective spy. However, while looking through different articles and media releases about pro-bending, Korra found herself getting distracted by other thoughts. 

“Do you think some of these pro-benders go for weird looks on purpose? I mean,” Korra held up a picture of one of of the tournament rosters, “some of them have the craziest hairstyles.” 

Asami giggled. “Who knows? It does seem like some of them enjoy putting themselves out there. I found a picture earlier of some of their press conference outfits. If I find it again I’ll show you.” 

“At least they’re having fun with the spotlight.” Korra grinned and idly flipped through some of the articles, not really looking at any of them too closely. “I have to admit, the idea of pro-bending as a sport is kind of cool if you think about it. Sure there’s contact, but it's not really violent. It's all for competition and fun. I know it’s still new, but it might be cool if it really caught on.” 

Her best friend pondered it for a second. “I don’t think you’re wrong. It does seem like a lot of fun, and sporting events like this can bring all sorts of people together. But, if it is true that there are criminal ties, then it could just be a way for the Triads to make large amounts of money.” 

“Yeah, that would make it a lot less cool,” Korra said lamely. “Have you found anything about that?” 

Asami sighed. “Not really. I wish I knew more about the rumors Chen mentioned. Either the league is really good about covering their tracks or there’s something else to it. The most I’ve found are a few articles about some pro-benders doing interviews about their pasts. Some of them mentioned having some rough backgrounds or getting into trouble when they were young, but that doesn’t mean they’re doing anything now. The league wouldn’t promote those stories so much if they were incriminating.” 

“Can I see those?” 

“Sure.” 

Korra thumbed through the articles, not looking for anything in particular. Research wasn’t a strong point for her, and she often followed a let’s-just-see-what-I-find mentality. Sometimes it led to her deep and meaningful discoveries. Other times, it did not. 

“Hey, Asami, this one’s kind of cute!” 

Amused and somewhat curious, Asami glanced over the article and photo. “Yeah, he’s not bad. What’s up with his eyebrows, though?” 

“Don’t be mean!” she said with a playful nudge. The fact that she didn’t disagree with Asami was rather telling, however. “It seems like a nice interview, though.” Korra continued to skim portions of the article but knew that Asami was probably going to summarize it for her anyway. 

She did. 

“Yeah. He talks about having not grown up with much and having to do some things he wasn’t proud of. Then he talks about how he and his brother have been training and how they’re hoping to make it onto a roster and make their pro debuts. It’s pretty vague, though. It doesn’t say what he was into or anything else.” 

“A lot of the interviews are like that?” 

“Some are. Sometimes they have longer interviews and profiles to try to hype up some of the bigger athletes. There hasn’t been much media coming from this gym in a while.” 

“That seems a bit suspicious, doesn’t it?” 

“I thought so too at first, but it actually makes a lot of sense. They’ve been one of the popular gyms, but they’ve also been dealing with the construction of the arena. It makes sense that they’ll have a drop-off in athletes, especially the high-profile ones that need to constantly train.” 

“So, what you’re saying is-” 

“I don’t have much to go on yet.” Asami’s frustration was poorly concealed. “Nothing concrete, anyway.” 

Korra shrugged but with an air of reassurance. “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see if anything else pops up. Or maybe you can think of some excuse to approach the gym with some technology thing or money thing.” 

“Technology thing.” She raised an eyebrow. “Really?” 

“I said what I said. The idea stands, and you know it's not a bad one.” 

Green eyes rolled, but a smile broke Asami’s face nonetheless. 

Korra mirrored the expression and chuckled. “Now that I’ve all but solved your problem, care to help with mine?” 

“Sure, what have you got?” 

“Nothing yet. I’ve been too busy bothering you and looking at cute probenders with funny eyebrows.” She was deflecting, knowing full-well how avoidant she had been of her own task. 

Chen had asked for her assistance in developing their training program further. As of now, Equalists were voluntarily enrolling in chi-blocking lessons in order to empower them and increase their sense of safety in the community. However, Chen revealed that they hoped to go as far as training all of those who formally joined the movement in basic combat to further their sense of unity and assist in their vigilante efforts. He had recently asked for Korra’s assistance in helping to integrate some of her combat training into his plans. 

While Korra should have been happy that her justification in continuing to practice bending forms was taken to heart, Korra also wished that - in that moment - she was more like Asami and stopped to think before speaking. 

Instead, Korra found herself asking about airbending. While she had been trained in the earthbending, firebending, and waterbending forms in her life at the compound, she hadn’t been trained in airbending forms. After all, it was the rarest form of bending in the world, and the only master that existed was busy serving as a councilmember of Republic City. 

Much to Korra’s surprise, Chen agreed that learning more about airbending could be a valuable asset to their own training. He promptly assigned Korra to find a way to do so, hoping that her previous bending training would give her context to understanding airbending in a way no other Equalist could. Korra was happy to have a non-box-related assignment but berated herself for walking into such a task. She had no idea what she was doing or why her gut decided that this was a good idea. 

Her stupor also did not go unnoticed by her best friend, who was waiting patiently for Korra to come out of her thoughts and into the present. 

“Oh sorry, Asami,” the Water Tribe native said when she realized Asami’s attentiveness. She lightly scratched at the back of her neck. “I zoned out a little bit there, didn’t I?” 

“You did,” Asami replied, a mix of both playfulness and concern underlying her tone. “I’m curious, Korra, what made you want to do this?” 

“I didn’t really volunteer. I mentioned it and Chen-” 

“I know, Korra. I was there when it happened. I’m just wondering where it came from.” 

She remained quiet and shrugged. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to answer. She just honestly didn’t know. 

“I’m just worried, that’s all,” Asami said, reaching over to momentarily brush a hand against Korra’s elbow. “I don’t think it’s a bad idea, but I’m just worried that looking into this might bring stuff up for you.” 

“I know. I think it’ll be okay though.” Korra nodded, not sure what more to say. She glanced up and searched her best friend’s eyes, seeing a forest of questions behind them. She had always been curious about Korra’s time in the compound - what it was like, why she decided to escape, and why she chose to come here. 

It was not something Korra ever shared with anyone, and she honestly didn’t know how to. Truthfully, the experience wasn’t as harrowing and painful as Asami, Chen, and Hiroshi seemed to have thought. They could not be faulted for their assumptions, as Korra had never tried to correct them. How could she? 

Telling them about her time there would lead to questions that Korra didn’t quite have the answers to - particularly the last ones: 

Why did she leave? Why did she come to Republic City? 

Korra wasn’t one for deep thought. She was not good at analysing or verbalizing her experiences. She acted on instinct. She may not have been a waterbender, but she was still of the Water Tribe. She followed the push and pull of the world, going where the current took her. 

The fact of the matter was that Korra didn’t know why she left or why she came here. She just felt that she should. It wasn’t a whim or an impulse either; it was an overwhelming sense that there was somewhere that she needed to be. How could she explain that to anyone? How could she describe an indescribable feeling? 

It had been several beats of uncertain silence before Asami decided to break it. “So how do you think you’re going to do this?” 

Korra was relieved for the change in subject. Asami had always been respectful about giving Korra space, especially when it came to discussing difficult topics. It was a patience she seemed to have learned from Hiroshi. 

“I’m not sure. This isn’t really something I can read up on. So much about the airbending was lost when they were killed.” 

Asami tilted her head pensively, clearly trying to weigh the options out in her head. “That’s true. This isn’t really something you can just look up.” A small, teasing smirk appeared on her face, cutting through the unusual aura of the day. “Plus, that’s not really your style is it?” 

Korra shot her a joking glare in return, but she realized that Asami was right. 

This thinking-and-researching-thing wasn’t Korra’s style. She consulted with her gut and was satisfied with the first answer that came to the surface. “It really isn’t. Maybe it’s something I need to go see with my own eyes.” 

“You mean you want to go straight to the source.” 

“Yes, you nerd.” Korra nodded, feeling that indescribable pull within her confirming her decision. “I guess I’m going to Air Temple Island.” 


	5. Chapter 4: Math

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _In the previous chapter: Asami and Korra get new assignments._  
>  \---  
>  **In this chapter:** Korra visits Air Temple Island, and Asami has an update, too.

Korra ended up learning at least three things during her visit to Air Temple Island. 

Once she stepped off the ferry, Korra was greeted by three children and a kind, but somewhat tired-looking woman named Pema. Based on the children’s movements and use of orbs of air to zoom around, Korra easily deduced that the young ones were the children of Councilman Tenzin - the only airbenders in the world aside from their father. Their mother Pema was one of many air acolytes that lived on the island. The excitement on all of their faces told Korra that they had not had many visitors lately - at least not for the reasons Korra said she was coming for. 

According to Asami, the island used to host large community nights every month or so, and people would come from all over the city to share food, walk around parts of the island, and participate in group meditations. Air Temple Island had stopped those large events several years ago due to dwindling interest from the citizens, but the island was still open at certain times of the day to guests who wanted spaces to meditate or take a break from the bustling city. It seemed that not many had been coming to do so as of late. 

The air acolytes were traditionally the ones to guide visitors around the island and assist them in their meditation, but the children were all eager to be the ones to show their new friend around their home. This time, however, Pema made the executive decision that Jinora would be the one to guide Korra for today. Jinora was the eldest daughter of the airbender family, and she was also the only one who was old enough to remember what it was like to have guests on Air Temple Island. The logic in this decision did not prevent her siblings Ikki and Meelo from voicing their disappointment. Loudly. Several times. 

To Korra’s pleasant surprise, she wasn’t overwhelmed by the antics or attention. Instead, she found herself chuckling and sharing in everyone’s joy. They seemed genuinely happy about her presence, and that energy was contagious. Korra had only been there for a few minutes and felt an instant connection with all of them - as if she were part of the family. She even felt a tug of sadness to see Ikki and Meelo go. She hoped she would be seeing them again soon. 

And that led to the first thing Korra learned that day: she really liked kids. 

Compared to that realization - which filled her with warmth and joy - her second lesson felt like a splash of cold water: acting was not one of Korra’s strong points. 

Her only saving grace was that she was able to prepare with Asami. Korra was even able to have a practice run at her talking points when briefing Chen about her plans. Convincing him to allow Korra to go to Air Temple Island was an endeavor of its own. While he agreed that it was reasonable to go and that he trusted Korra, he still had his concerns. When he had agreed to give Korra an assignment outside of her usual warehouse security duty, he acknowledged that she would be walking out in the open more, but he never imagined that she would be wanting to spend time on a semi-secluded island surrounded by White Lotus sentries. 

Over the three years that Korra had been in Republic City, Chen realized that the average citizen didn’t seem to be on the lookout for a runaway potential avatar. However, he still directed Korra to remain cautious and elusive in case she were to run into police or members of the White Lotus, who may be more questioning of a teenage Water Tribe girl running around. These directives included keeping a scarf, high collar, or hood at the ready so she could cover up in the case of an incident. Korra often referred to this as her ‘ _Perpetually Cold Person Disguise'_ , much to Chen’s chagrin. Thankfully, she hadn’t needed to use it often, and she hoped to not have to during her visit. 

Courtesy of her planning sessions with Asami, Korra was as well-prepared as she was ever going to be. She promised Chen that she would stay away from the sentries, stay out of trouble, and be as vague about herself as possible. All she had to do was steer conversations away from personal topics or too much of her history. 

As Asami had told her - it was easier to say nothing than keep up with lies. 

That served as a sort of mantra to guide many of Korra’s early interactions at the island. It was, however, difficult for her to maintain an aloof air when also feeling so welcomed into the family. Fortunately, Jinora appeared to have the patience and understanding that someone raised in an airbending temple would be expected to have. She did not ask many personal questions, and when she did, she was gracious about Korra saying she didn't really want to talk about it. 

That patience and grace reminded Korra of Asami and the way her best friend always seemed to know exactly when to push or when to let go and give space during difficult conversations. The aura was compelling and familiar, and Korra figured that must have been why she felt so at home with the airbender family. 

Korra felt so at ease there that she almost forgot she was on a mission until partway through her tour with Jinora. She was being shown through the open areas of the island, including several beautiful outdoor spaces and a community building. 

“On the other side is a dining hall, the dormitories, bison caves, and some other places. Those aren’t open to visitors,” Jinora said. The pair were now looping back around towards the docks where they began. “So, where would you like to meditate?” 

“What? Oh, right.” Korra rubbed the back of her neck. She forgot about that part. 

Jinora smiled sweetly at Korra’s nervousness. “Have you done meditation a lot before?” 

“Uh. Sort of? Not really,” Korra sputtered. She was really not good at this. Fortunately, her very-real nerves seemed to be playing into her guise quite well. It also hadn’t been a complete lie; meditation was a part of her training at the compound, but she was terrible at it. So, it wasn’t completely inaccurate for her to say she hadn’t meditated much. It would be more accurate to say that she sat around with her eyes closed for long periods of time in order to avoid getting in trouble. 

“That’s okay. My dad said that a lot of people who used to come here also didn’t meditate a lot before and came here to try it. That’s why we let people pick their spot so they can feel comfortable.” 

Korra nodded and glanced around the island from where she stood. Jinora did have a point; Korra might not have actually wanted to meditate, but there were so many wonderful spaces here. It could actually be nice to sit and take in the sights. She was intentional about not overthinking this process, once again consulting her gut to find a spot that seemed interesting. She found herself drawn to a simple, shaded pagoda that overlooked a wonderful view of the center of the city. 

Korra was about to learn her third thing for the day: trying to meditate and allowing herself to meditate were two very different experiences. 

As Korra made her way towards the pagoda, she noticed Jinora walk beside her with a small, thoughtful smile. 

“That’s a good choice,” the young airbender said kindly. “You said you had some things on your mind, right? Do you want me to help you get started?” 

“Yeah, maybe,” Korra replied absently. She was still taking in the view of the city. After a moment, she was able to draw her attention back to Jinora. “Am I just supposed to sit here and think about whatever I’m trying to work through?” 

It was Jinora’s turn to look shy. “Yes and no. My dad says that sometimes thinking too hard on something makes it hard to work through because we can get stuck, but he also says ignoring it can make whatever it is push back harder.” 

As knowledgeable as Jinora seemed, Korra was reminded that she was only 10-years-old. Korra noticed how often she cited her father, family, or books. Still, Korra found Jinora easy to understand. Even though she didn’t actually have anything to meditate on, she couldn’t help but feel curious. “So, what should I do then?” 

“Nothing.” 

“Nothing?” 

“Yes, nothing. My brother and sister used to have trouble meditating. They still do sometimes because they’re young. I had trouble at first, too. Then I remembered something my Gran-Gran told us about letting our thoughts and feelings flow like water. She said that sometimes a good place to start is right where you are and then let go from there.” 

In the back of her mind, Korra remembered that this generation of airbenders also had ties to the Water Tribes. The metaphor made sense, and she also found herself wondering how much the two styles of bending had influenced one another since the 100 Year War ended. Perhaps she was already learning something valuable about airbender culture, and she hadn’t even seen them train yet. 

“So I’m just supposed to sit here, and do nothing?” 

Jinora giggled, clearly amused at whatever thought came to her mind. “Well you’re not supposed to do nothing. You’re supposed to sit there and let whatever happens happen. Even if it starts out as nothing.” 

“Did you learn that from your dad, too?” Korra flashed her young new friend a genuine smile. 

The airbender smiled back and shook her head. “No, that’s from me. I told Ikki once when we were little.” 

Korra beamed at the brief flash of confidence from the airbender. “Would you like to join me, Jinora? I don’t know what I’m doing, so it might be nice to have you around.” 

To Korra’s surprise, Jinora seemed to light up at the request and moved to sit beside her. She wasn’t sure what she was doing, but she decided to give the airbender’s advice a try. Something about having her new friend present allowed Korra to feel more open to this new experience. 

She took a few deep breaths and slowly shut her eyes, the memory of the city view still imprinted on her mind. Rather than try to shove away the memory as she had once been taught, Korra tried to hold the vision loosely in her head, seeing where her mind would take her next. 

At first, her mind was as hectic as she expected it to be. Korra’s headspace bounced from thought to random question to another thought. However, the reminder to let them flow like water allowed Korra to stay centered amidst it all. She tried to imagine her mind as an actual ocean and her thoughts co-existing with the ebb and flow of the current. 

It helped. It almost felt natural. 

Then, Korra realized that the current she was sensing wasn’t that of her mind, but of Yue Bay itself. The scene that she imprinted into her mind no longer a thought but actually the world around her. However, she knew that her eyes were very much closed. 

Still, she felt the water speak to her, as if it were a part of her and she was a part of it. She noticed how the ground beneath her crossed legs cradled her and held her. She felt the energy of life flowing within her like a spark, asking - waiting - to be released. She felt the gentle breeze whisper over the island like a deep breath. 

Like her own breath. 

Had Korra not allowed herself to be open to this meditation, she would have snapped herself away from this experience almost immediately. Instead, she allowed herself to lean into it. Her gut agreed that this was the right choice. 

The world was reaching out to her, and she never felt more a part of it than in that moment. 

Then, suddenly, a vision flashed before her closed eyes. It was, once again, of Yue Bay overlooking the city, but it was slightly off. The buildings were smaller, and there were fewer of them. The city was still young. 

It was such a subtle flash that Korra could have mistaken it for her own memory of the view. Or attributed it to the unusual sensory experience she was having. 

But it was too vivid. It had too many emotions attached to it, and they weren’t Korra’s own feelings. 

That was enough to snap Korra from her meditation. 

She returned to the present with a jerk but only a slight one. With her eyes open, she inhaled once more, noticing the earth beneath her and taking in the sight before her. It still seemed as though she was connected to them but less so than moments before. Perhaps that part was just a lingering memory of her meditative experience. 

Her movements must have alerted Jinora that Korra’s meditation ended, and the young airbender looked calmly at her guest. Korra managed a soft smile and looked up. Judging by the position of the sun, she had likely not been meditating long. She still had to stop by Chen’s before going to the Sato Estate to help Asami brainstorm her mission more. 

“So, how was it?” Jinora asked. 

“It was interesting.” 

The airbender’s friendly expression remained unchanged, but Korra could tell that she had given an unusual response. A slightly too-long quiet stretched between them before Korra rose to her feet and stretched her arms above her head. 

“Korra?” 

“Hm?” She let her arms drop loosely to her sides. 

“Would you like to visit again some time?” 

Korra paused for a short moment; she knew from the start that there was a chance her mission would require multiple visits, and she recognized that she learned more about herself than about the airbenders today. Nonetheless, she was starting to think that she could gain a lot from coming back. 

“Definitely.” A crooked smile stretched across Korra’s face as she made her way to the docks. 

\--- 

Asami was in her bathroom patching herself up when she heard the door to her bedroom open. It had been two days since she last saw Korra, and she was expecting her to come by this evening. However, she was surprised to see Korra arrive as early as she did. 

Korra began calling out from the doorway of Asami’s bedroom much more loudly than necessary. “Asami!” 

A small smile broke from the innovator’s lips as she rolled her eyes towards her own reflection in the mirror. “In here, Korra,” she said at a much more appropriate volume. Asami turned off her faucet and raised a wet towel to finish cleaning a wide but shallow scrape on her elbow. “You’re early.” 

Korra slowly pushed the partially-opened bathroom door and poked her head inside. “I’m just that fast! I thought we could just-” Her eyes widened slightly, and she stepped fully into the bathroom. “Asami, what happened? Did you get attacked?” 

She paused her actions and took in her best friend’s worried gaze, understanding her concern. Confrontations between benders and non-benders were still rising. “Don’t worry about it, Korra. Nothing happened. Just a bit of my own clumsiness.” Asami shook her head and tried to laugh softly in reassurance before changing the subject so she could focus on finishing up. “How was your visit to the island earlier?” 

The Water Tribe native gave her friend’s scrape a quick once-over before answering. “It went alright. They were all very nice. I’ll be going back later.” 

“So, overall good?” 

“Yeah, I think so.” 

“Did you learn anything?” 

Korra thought for only a moment. “Not much yet. I didn’t want to be too pushy in asking questions right away.” 

Asami hummed in acknowledgement. She was hoping that Korra would have more to say but knew that gathering information from Air Temple Island would likely be a slow process. She actually found herself impressed that Korra seemed to be approaching her task with patience. She then briefly reminded herself that she also had updates for Korra with regards to her own assignment. 

“So, Asami, are you going to tell me what happened with your arm?” Korra said with a mischievous smirk, “Or should I start coming up with my own theories about this clumsiness you’re telling me about?” 

“Oh no. Please don’t,” Asami groaned with dramatic flair before responding simply. "I fell off my motor scooter.” 

Korra raised an eyebrow, lightheartedly waiting for the rest of the story; Asami rarely made driving errors. 

A small smirk tugged at Asami’s lips. She was going to enjoy testing Korra's patience down the line, especially since she knew she was actually capable of being patient now. "Well, I was driving through the city to clear my head a little. I was stuck on some calculations for one of the designs and-" 

"Which one?" 

"The alert signal." 

"Oh, the Blinky Light." 

"Yes." Asami rolled her eyes. 

“Got it.” 

"Anyway, I was on my scooter and I ended up near the middle of town where the arena is being built. You know how weird the streets are because of the construction? I was running some numbers in my head, and I didn’t notice someone step out from behind one of the trucks. I sort of,” she paused, trying to find the right wording. “Half ran him over.” Asami kept her tone even, making sure Korra knew that nothing severe happened in this story. “Funny thing is that after we picked ourselves up and I went to check on him, I recognized him. Remember that pro-bender we were talking about? The one in the article?” 

“Which one?” 

Asami sighed in amusement. She was going to have to say it. “Eyebrows.” 

“Oh, him! You ran him over?” 

“Half ran him over!” she corrected. “Anyway, we were both fine, but then I realized that I might as well make the most of my opportunity since we were so stuck on investigating the gym. So, I sort of followed your advice.” 

Korra perked up. “My advice?” 

“It was based on your advice, at least. You know how you told me to approach the gym with a technology thing or a money thing? I was thinking on my feet and figured maybe a date thing could work instead.” 

Korra blinked, as if the action would help her gain further clarity about the conversation she was having. “You have a date?” 

“Yeah. His name is Mako, and I have a date with him in two days.” 

An unusual silence stretched between the pair for a few moments. 

After several more clarifying blinks, Korra spoke slowly, her expression completely inscrutable. “A date? You actually have a date?” 

“Yes?” Asami struggled to read her best friend’s blank tone. “Korra, is something wrong?” 

“You, Asami Sato, 17-years-old and breaker-of-many-hearts are finally going on a date.” 

“Yeah. Wait, what do you mean finally-” 

“You’re Asami Sato, the most amazing and beautiful woman in the world…” 

As Korra trailed off, Asami noticed her heartbeat grow progressively louder, threatening to mute out Korra’s odd rambling. Thankfully, she continued before Asami’s pulse could drown out the conversation. 

“...and you have a date.” 

“Yes!” Asami’s confusion finally boiled over. She was used to Korra’s rambling, but this reaction felt different. And Asami’s reaction to this reaction was something else she’d have to think upon eventually, but she was too focused on trying to get to the point of this to care. 

Korra blinked one more time, and an expression finally returned to her face. Her dancing blue eyes met Asami’s gaze, and her throat seemed to tighten in an attempt to hold back a snicker. “You finally have a date, and the only reason you got this date was because you were driving around town, stuck on a math problem.” 

Asami’s frustration vanished, and she, too, succumbed to a need to blink blankly. 

“That is probably the most Asami thing I’ve ever heard in my life.” 

Without missing a beat, Korra scampered from her spot against the doorframe, hoping to get a head-start on escaping her best friend’s wrath. Asami quickly began the chase to punish Korra for her jab, but neither of them got very far before they erupted into a fit of giggles. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I promised short endnotes, but I just wanted to share something that made parts of this chapter feel very personal to me.
> 
> When I was young, my family would sometimes go to some local Buddhist temples. Some weekends of the month, one of the temples would be alive with activity - tables full of food, group meditations, a shop open with jewelry and books, and just so much life. We mostly only went to these when I was young, but I always remembered those times. Later in my adult life when I was going through a particularly difficult period, I started visiting the temples on my own here and there. I usually couldn’t go on the big tabling days, so it would be more quiet and serene when I went.
> 
> I would go there and allow myself to just...be. And exist in that space. It gave me time to get away and just exist as I was, even when “what I was” was a mess. It’s probably part of the reason I’m still around today.
> 
> While I still consider myself to be a solid “kinda?” in terms of my religious beliefs, those temple visits hold a special place in my heart, and they hold such a range of memories for me - from lively community moments to spiritual moments to times of quiet pain and sadness to times of peace and calm. My time there wasn’t about religion or faith. For me, it was about feeling connected, feeling alive, or just feeling anything at all.
> 
> I can’t say I directly based the Air Temple Island stuff in this chapter on my experiences, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about it the whole time I was writing.
> 
> Also, if there is anyone out there that is struggling or has struggled or who may struggle in the future - it’s okay. It’s okay to be okay, it's okay not to be okay, and it’s okay to be a mess or anything else you may feel that you are. You are valued and worthy of love and as you are, and you deserve to be valued and loved and to feel okay no matter what direction you decide to go next.
> 
> Sometimes we feel whole. Sometimes we feel like a mess. And all of that is okay. Please, know you matter no matter what. No matter how you are or where you are at this moment. No matter where you end up next. You matter.
> 
> \---  
> This chapter was written with the help of songs like:  
>  _Anberlin - Impossible_


	6. Chapter 5: Somewhere to Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _In the previous chapter: Korra visits Air Temple Island, and Asami has an update, too._  
>  \---  
>  **In this chapter:** Korra continues to visit Air Temple Island, and Asami goes on a date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Attention: I added a section to the beginning of my prologue chapter about how I will be handling content warnings in future chapters. Feel free to go back and read it. This chapter doesn't have any content warnings. This is just FYI for upcoming chapters.
> 
> Also attention: I added chapter summaries because I forgot that I actually wanted to do that for this work. I added brief summaries for previous chapters. You don't have to go back to read if you don't want to. You're not missing anything :)

It had already been an hour and a half into Korra’s visit to Air Temple Island, and she had not yet gone anywhere near the pagoda. Korra made a commitment to visit each day for as long as she could, and it was already her third visit. During her second visit, she wasn't able to replicate her odd mediation experience, so she ended up spending most of the time chatting with Jinora instead. 

That was technically a good step for her mission, but it wasn’t even on her mind at the time; she was just enjoying herself. 

This visit appeared to be heading in a similar non-meditative direction. Korra was watching Ikki and Meelo chase each other around the courtyard in front of the community building. Jinora had seemingly given up on upholding whatever rules were established around their chaotic play; despite her stern posture and hands on her hips, her bright brown eyes glittered in amusement at her younger siblings’ antics. 

Korra was sitting on a bench in a nearby shaded area, content to just watch. She idly swirled her fingers up and down a dark band around her wrist, her body unconsciously trying to get used to the sensation of the new accessory. Pema had joined her on the bench a few minutes in, and she also seemed perfectly happy to gaze over her wild children in a comfortable quiet. 

After a while, Korra decided to break the silence. “They have so much energy, Pema. I don’t know how you do it.” 

“Sometimes I don’t either.” Pema let out a soft laugh and rested her chin on her hands. “I’m not surprised they’re like this. Tenzin always said that air is the element of freedom, after all.” She sighed contentedly and watched as Meelo attempted to use gusts of air from his nose to blow Ikki off her air scooter. “Or maybe it's just in the family. I heard that Tenzin’s siblings were a little crazy when they were kids, too. Their mom Katara even told me that their father Aang was pretty free-spirited when he was younger. Sometimes I wonder if Tenzin turned out so serious just to balance out the rest of his family.” She spoke fondly, and her voice was full of warmth. 

Korra’s heart tightened slightly at the way Pema spoke about her family; she reminded Korra of her own mother. Korra hadn’t thought much about her family in the past few years, but she also didn’t have much reason to. She made the choice to leave all of that behind and was quite content with her life as it was. 

Pema’s voice broke Korra from her thoughts. “Speaking of the serious one,” she trailed off, signalling ahead with her eyes. 

Korra watched as a tall, bearded man walked towards the courtyard. He was dressed in traditional airbender robes and carried himself with an air of dignity that Korra could feel even from where she sat. In truth, Korra found his presence to be intimidating. She often heard Chen and Hiroshi fume about the city’s council, and she had it in her head that all of the council members were old, out-of-touch, stubborn, and inflammatory. Hearing that Tenzin was serious enough for an entire family did not help this impression. 

What did help the impression, though, was watching his children turn their attention from their play to their father. They rushed gleefully towards him - Jinora hugging him from the side, Ikki clinging onto his arm, and Meelo floating effortlessly atop his shaven head. 

Tenzin didn’t even flinch, as if being swarmed by small children was a regular occurrence. Korra stifled a laugh as she watched Meelo rock back and forth and pull at his father’s ears. It was quite a sight to see. 

Pema noticed Korra’s restrained laughter and grinned. “I know I said Tenzin’s serious, but he is a great dad. He loves being close to the kids. Everyone can tell. Maybe it’s a Water Tribe thing, don’t you think?” 

Korra perked up and tilted her head curiously. “What do you mean?” 

“You have family from the Water Tribe, right?” 

“Yeah, I do,” she replied, hopefully not too softly. Korra couldn’t help but be a little surprised. In some ways, she looked like someone from Republic City, dressed in a light jacket with her hair pulled back into a singular ponytail. On the other hand, it may have been obvious that she was from one of the Water Tribes based on her darker complexion and blue eyes. It wasn’t as though she was hiding that part of herself; she simply didn’t have much else from home aside from what she came here with. 

It was both odd and comforting to have someone notice her heritage, and Korra had to remind herself not to say much else about her history. 

“So you you might know what I mean, then,” Pema continued. “Don’t get me wrong - Aang loved his family too, and he loved being a dad. But maybe it was the type of openness that the nomads were raised with in the temples. Or maybe it was the pressures of being the only one to carry on his culture. I don’t really know. It was just a different way to show love and closeness. But I see the way Katara talks about the tribal views of the Water Tribe and how she talks about the meaning of family - I think that’s where Tenzin’s protectiveness comes from.” She shrugged nonchalantly. “Who knows?” 

What Pema said resonated with Korra in a way that she didn’t quite understand, and she wasn’t sure what to say so she responded with a simple nod. 

Pema didn’t seem to be offended by the gesture and instead chuckled at her children continuing to bounce around her husband. “I think it’s time for me to rescue him.” She turned her kind green eyes towards Korra. “You haven’t met Tenzin yet, right? Come on.” 

Korra was ripped from her stupor and hit with a wave of anxiety. Despite Master Tenzin having a 4-year-old literally gnawing on his head, he was still a council member and an airbending master. She felt the intimidation come rushing back. 

Nevertheless, she rose to her feet and followed Pema, knowing that it would be even more rude not to do so. Korra hoped for a positive interaction and mentally crossed her fingers with such intensity that she had to physically make sure she wasn’t crossing her actual fingers on her actual hands. 

She wasn’t. So far, so good. 

“Hello Council-...Mast-...Councilm...aster Tenzin. I’m Korra.” She internally wondered if she had always been this bad at forming sentences. 

“Hello, Korra,” he said gently. His friendly smile was accentuated by the wizened wrinkles on his face. “I’ve heard so much about you.” He made a small motion to demonstrate that he would have offered to shake her hand if Ikki had not been hanging off his arm. 

“Oh, you have?” Korra felt her anxiety slowly melt away at his demeanor. He wasn’t as intense up close as she expected. 

“Absolutely. The children talk about you as if they want you to be their new big sister.” He chuckled. 

Pema joined in his light laughter, having finally pried Meelo off her husband’s head. It seemed that the process involved flipping the child upside-down, and he calmly remained that way while in his mother’s arms. “They’ve actually been saying that about you. You know, you should join us for dinner one day, Korra, since the kids have basically adopted you into the family already.” 

“Oh, uh. That would be really nice some time.” Korra rubbed the back of her neck, not sure how else to respond to their hospitality. 

Thankfully, Tenzin didn’t seem keen on letting Korra drown in her own awkwardness. “Well, I know you’ve been coming here to meditate. We won’t keep you any longer. I hope Jinora has been a good host to you?” 

“Yes,” Korra replied, happy to have something she could actually answer like a normal human being. “She’s been great. She showed me around the island, and she’s been meditating with me in the pagoda over there. It’s been nice.” 

“Oh, the pagoda?” Tenzin’s eyebrows raised slightly and his gaze twitched. It was a subtle shift, so much so that the airbending master likely didn’t realize he reacted at all. “It does have a beautiful view.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, we’ll let you get to it. It’s nice to meet you, Korra.” 

Pema, Tenzin, and the two young children walked away, leaving Korra looking at Jinora with a few questions behind her eyes. 

Jinora seemed to understand them almost instantly. “Don’t worry about him, Korra. I told you it was a special spot, right?” 

Korra nodded as they made their way to the aforementioned location. 

“That’s because it was Grandpa Aang’s favorite spot on the island,” the young airbender spoke quietly with a twinge of sadness. “My dad really misses his dad, I think. He works really hard to try to uphold Grandpa Aang’s legacy and do good for the city. Sometimes he stands there and looks at the city from that spot, and I know he’s thinking about it.” She sighed as the pair sat and took in the view. “We talk about it sometimes with my mom. I wish my dad knew we were proud of him. I think Grandpa Aang would be, too.” 

Korra gazed at the city from across Yue Bay, wondering what it must feel like to carry the responsibility of that legacy. A swift ocean breeze flew by, briefly carrying away the scent of the sea and, with it, Korra's wondering. 

Because, in that moment, she suddenly didn’t have to wonder anymore. She knew. She knew what it felt like to have the weight of the city - of a world - on her shoulders. 

And - for at least that moment - it felt warm. It felt happy. 

Her vision in her mind passed over the city, once again young and blossoming, and she felt a complex wave of pride, hope, and nerves. Why was she so nervous? 

Korra eventually shook herself from her state but not before making out the gentle words of a light-voiced man. 

_“We built this. We did this together.”_

When Korra returned to the present, she found herself looking directly into Jinora’s confused gaze. The young airbender’s eyes were slightly wide and looking at Korra with an intense curiosity, as if she had not yet fully formed the question she meant to ask. 

“Hey, did you just…” she said so quietly that Korra couldn’t quite make out her words. Jinora shut her eyes, seeming to shut down her line of thinking. She returned after the briefest of moments. “Are you okay? You look a little off.” 

“Oh, yeah. Sorry. I guess I’m a little out of it.” 

“We don’t have to meditate if you don’t want to.” 

Korra sighed. A part of her wanted to, but another part was afraid to continue diving into whatever was going on. She thumbed her wristband lightly in thought. She couldn’t afford to be distracted, at least not today. “Yeah, can we actually skip it today, Jinora? Sorry. I have somewhere I need to be later, and I think that’s where my head is at.” 

“That’s okay,” Jinora replied. 

She was cheery as usual, but Korra could sense something was on her mind, too. At least, Korra thought so. She wasn’t entirely sure of that, either, right now. 

Jinora decided to chime in again. “We can just sit around for a little before you have to go.” 

A crooked smile appeared on Korra’s face, shoving away her confusion for the time being. She wasn’t one to overthink things, anyway. “Sounds good to me.” 

\--- 

Asami was waiting at the restaurant for her date to arrive. She had gotten there more than 20 minutes early and was anxiously fiddling with a thin, dark band on her wrist, grateful that she was able to design it to match with her outfit. 

She had invited Mako to a modest restaurant and decided to ask him on a lunch date rather than a dinner date. Asami was still concerned about the rumors of pro-benders being tied to Triads, and she wanted to be cautious. In addition, she had somewhere she had to be that afternoon, and that was taking up some of her brainspace; it also gave her a good excuse to end the date early if she needed to. 

The innovator examined her wristband one last time, making sure the embedded pieces were discreet enough. She convinced Korra to wear hers during the day, too, for a potential test run. 

Asami had been able to make a rudimentary alert system that could communicate with other signals in the system. She was hoping that Equalists could eventually use it to communicate threats to one another, but she had not yet figured out how to expand the system to include a large number of signals reliably. So, for the moment, Korra and Asami had the only working signals. She had stripped down many of the other experimental features and left its most basic functions. The two signals were only connected to each other, and had a light that would blink if the other was set off - hence Korra’s affectionate nickname for the device, the _‘Blinky Light.’_

Asami knew that its current design would not work as a large-scale alert system, but she wanted to have something prepared in the event that her date turned out to be dangerous. She quickly rigged everything into a dark, rather inconspicuous wristband and told Korra to be on the lookout for the light while Asami was on the date - just in case. 

Of course, Asami hoped that nothing would happen. She knew that she was being overly cautious and that her paranoia was likely misplaced. However, the thought of going on a date with a potential Triad - a firebender, no less - brought up buried anxieties that she never wanted to touch again. 

Mako arrived after a few minutes, also technically early based on their agreed upon time. He was well-dressed, with a clean pair of dark slacks, a grey jacket, and a handsome red scarf. He looked happy to see her but also a bit nervous. 

Asami was glad she wasn’t the only one. 

Much to her surprise, the lunch date started out smoothly. Mako was more reserved than Asami expected. He kept the talk light, careful not to pry. Asami followed his lead and kept the conversation close to the surface. It was enough to ease her nerves, and she was almost ready to admit to herself that she was having a good time. 

Then one of the wait staff had to ruin it by calling her “Miss Sato” after refilling her drink. 

Mako stared in shock for the longest minute as all of her anxiety returned. She knew he would find out eventually, and it wasn’t as though she was trying to hide it. She was, however, concerned that her high status would make her a target. In a way, she knew it would be an easy way to find out if Mako or any of his associates were linked to criminal activity, but the potential of being bait in her own plan still terrified her. 

“Wait, Sato? As in Asami Sato? As in ridiculously-big-business-conglomerate Future Industries’ Sato?” His amber eyes were still wide. 

“Yes, that’s me. My father is Hiroshi Sato.” 

“No way!” he said, a childish smile lighting up his face. 

Asami couldn’t help but smile back. Either he was an excellent actor, or he was having an actual starstruck moment. The innovator found it endearing either way. “Is that going to be a problem?” she teased with a wry smirk. 

“Oh, no not at all. I’m just impressed!” His eyebrows raised in genuine cheer. 

Asami giggled, both at the movement of his eyebrows as well as his compliment. 

Mako’s expression settled, and he decided to counter her wry comment with a jab of his own. “Wait, does that mean that you designed the scooter that you hit me with?” 

Her giggle grew into a full laugh. “That was actually one of my father’s designs. He did a good job with it. It held up well against you.” 

“It definitely did,” a slight blush fell across his cheeks. 

Asami cursed herself for noticing it. She really did find him to be charming in a quiet, aloof sort of way. Her anxiety wanted to yell at her to be more cautious, but she was having a hard time letting that nervous voice ruin her moment. “I do hope you’re okay after that hit, though. I really am sorry about that.” 

“It’s okay. Neither of us could see with all that construction going on. Besides, my brother hits me harder than that at practice.” 

“That’s right. You’re both pro-benders, right?” 

“Well, sort of.” He rubbed his upper arm, suddenly feeling shy again. “We’re both working really hard to make a roster, but it’s still competitive since there aren’t that many teams. I would love it if we could end up on the same team, but the chances don’t look good.” 

“What about making your own team and entering the pre-pro tournament? Don’t the winners go into the pros for the season?” 

Mako sighed. He seemed slightly embarrassed. “My brother and I don’t have a lot. There’s no way we’d be able to afford the tournament even if we found a waterbender to team up with.” He straightened his shoulders and put a determined look back on his face. “It’s okay, though. We just have to focus on making a roster for now. Maybe one day we can be on the same team.” 

Immediately, an idea began to form in Asami’s mind, but she kept it to herself for now. As long as she was continuing to investigate his gym for criminal activity, she wouldn’t let her mind wander anywhere else with this. 

The rest of the lunch went smoothly, and Asami paid for the meal despite Mako’s protests. 

“Let me at least take you out for some dessert or something? It’s the least I can do,” he insisted. 

“It’s okay, Mako,” Asami said, surprising even herself when she reached across the table to touch his forearm. “You said it yourself. You and your brother are working hard enough to make ends meet. Besides, I have somewhere I need to be after this.” 

“I know, but-” 

“How about this,” she interrupted, a sly smile parting her lips. “Save your money, and _when_ you make the pros you can take me out. Deal?” 

“Oh, uh. Okay.” He blushed again. “That sounds good.” 

They rose from the table, and Mako carefully stepped towards Asami, his hand lightly brushing against hers without grabbing it. He was gentle and cautious, clearly not wanting to do anything to make her uneasy. Asami looked up into his eyes, expecting to feel more uncomfortable; she was on a date with a firebender - a stranger and potential criminal that she was only getting to know for a mission. Yet, she didn’t feel uncomfortable with his closeness at all. 

Mako, however, read her extended silence as hesitation. To Asami’s surprise, his gentle gaze didn’t change. There was no anger or frustration or even disappointment. He happily leaned in for a simple peck on her cheek, not wanting to push her any further than that. 

“Call me later sometime?” he said, almost a whisper. 

“I will.” 

Asami watched Mako’s back as he sauntered away from the restaurant. Her brain tried to find something to hold onto, but it had nothing. After all of that planning and anxiety, there was nothing for her to worry about. It was such an easy and peaceful date that she didn’t know how to process it. 

She simply wasn’t used to not having something to process. 

Asami shook away her lack-of-thought and made her way to her Satomobile. She didn’t have time to get lost into the void of her mind. She really did have somewhere she needed to be, and she had to get ready. 

Before getting into her vehicle, she popped open her trunk and checked for a specific inconspicuous bag that she had placed there earlier. She made sure not to open it since she was still in the public eye, but she trusted that the contents were in there. 

Chen had given Asami and Korra permission to test her new uniform design tonight, but they all hoped that it's protective features wouldn’t be necessary. It was just a simple gathering, and the girls were just assigned watch duty. Still, Asami was always excited to try out one of her creations, and she knew Korra was excited to be given a non-warehouse job at all. It was even more exciting that they would be able to do it together. 

She grinned to herself as she closed the trunk and got into her vehicle, making her way to pick up Korra from Chen’s to prepare for the Equalist meeting later that day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _This chapter was written with the help of songs like:_   
>  _Hot Mulligan - *Equip Sunglasses*_


	7. Chapter 6: Troublemaking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _In the previous chapter: Korra continues to visit Air Temple Island, and Asami goes on a date._  
>  \---  
>  **In this chapter:** A boring Equalist meeting becomes less boring, Asami's brain does good, Korra's muscles do good, and Chen sort of emotes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Attention: I added a section to the beginning of my prologue chapter about how I will be handling content warnings in future chapters. Feel free to go back and read it.
> 
> Also attention: I added chapter summaries because I forgot that I actually wanted to do that for this work. I added brief summaries for previous chapters. You don't have to go back to read if you don't want to. You're not missing anything :)
> 
> Content Disclosure (intentionally lengthy to avoid direct spoilers; refer back to Prologue notes for more info about disclosure categories):
> 
> This chapter contains one or more of the following:  
>  _[1] Mentions of blood, non-graphic depictions of violence, mentions of pain, more-than-a-little swearing, expressions of anger/aggression._

"Don't say it." 

It was a standoff. Neither of them were willing to budge. 

"But, Asami-" 

"Korra." 

"Asami..." 

"Korra…" she hissed. Asami didn’t want to deal with this right now. 

A silence stretched between them. They were speaking quietly but intensely, their voices barely above a whisper. They sat side-by-side on a platform above the crowd, trying to avoid drawing attention.There were too many others around them; they couldn’t afford to make much noise. Asami was staring daggers at Korra, her green eyes piercing through Korra’s very soul in threat. 

Korra narrowed her eyes rebelliously. Asami was stubborn, but so was Korra. "...I'm bored." 

Asami sagged dramatically to the ground in genuine frustration and defeat. Had they not been on duty, she probably would have tackled Korra for her ridiculousness. Instead, Asami allowed the weight of her displeasure overtake her. Korra was being a child. 

But she wasn’t wrong. This was boring. 

Chen described these meetings as remnants of the old way of doing things; as Amon began to be viewed as a centralized leader, there was less need to gather in this way. While there was growing desire among members to hold rallies to garner public support and increase their numbers, it was also becoming more dangerous to identify with the Equalist movement in the public eye. The Equalists wanted to portray strength, not fear. The problem was that few agreed on how to do that. The movement was nearing a turning point, but there was internal conflict among members about the direction. 

Hence the meetings. Unfortunately, they were incredibly dull and typically consisted of old members making speeches and arguing in circles. 

It was mind-numbing. Fortunately, Korra and Asami did not have to suffer through these on the meeting floor. Chen was kind enough to assign many of the newer or younger members to watch duty rather than have them in the meetings themselves unless they wanted to be. It also made the most sense - the newer members were often the most eager to go to training, and they were most likely to have accepted Amon as a leader. Most deserters came from older ranks; new members all seemed to be tired of the talking. They wanted to take a stand and be a part of the change. By being assigned as watches, they could make use of their training, remain involved, and still get to stay out of the old crowd - amusing themselves from above instead. 

Korra and Asami hadn’t been assigned watch duty for a while, so it was their turn. Chen was intentional about assigning them together. It was both an act of kindness and self-preservation. He preferred to have Korra complain to Asami about the tedium rather than complain to him. 

And Korra was doing plenty of complaining. Asami had counted Korra commenting about boredom at least fifteen times in the past two hours. She was close to setting a personal record. 

Then again, that was probably why Korra was doing it to begin with. Spending time with Asami was fun, and making Asami roll her eyes and melt to the ground in misery was the best part. 

Korra’s face was dancing with silent laughter as she watched Asami finally collect herself from the floor. She shuffled around her mask, which was neatly folded on the floor beside her, and casually pulled her knees up to her chest. Despite her forced glare, her green eyes glittered with playfulness. 

"You just did a round and came back a few minutes ago. How are you bored already?” Asami’s eyes narrowed. “Are you implying that I’m boring?” 

“Well, I wouldn’t say I’m implying it so much as- Hey!” 

She was prepared this time. Asami expertly grabbed Korra’s wrist and gave her a swift swat onto the back of her hand. Korra tried to pull back from this vicious assault to tend to her wound, but her best friend still kept her clamped in an iron grip. Korra looked pleadingly at her assailant, who looked back at her smugly, clearly trying to stifle her laughter. 

And that is how they sat, in an odd new standoff - Korra’s eyes begging to be released and Asami desperately trying to hold onto both Korra's wrist as well as her own composure. Then, Korra caught Asami’s eyes flickering down towards the floor and followed her gaze. She caught sight of a uniformed Chen taking a pause from his floor rounds to look upwards towards the troublemakers with a single eyebrow raised. 

Korra and Asami lost it and were consumed by an excruciating fit of restrained snorts and laughs. By the end of it, their cores burned with such intensity that they could justify skipping training sessions for a few days. They eventually settled down, and Korra noticed that Asami was still lightly gripping her wrist, idly fiddling with Korra's wristband. 

Korra sat in silence for another minute, enjoying the quiet. “The wristbands are kind of neat.” 

“Oh.” Asami’s hand stuttered; she seemed to not have realized what she was doing until now. “They’re not really. I had so much else planned for them, but I’ve been pretty stuck. Ours just light up, but you know that’s not exactly subtle or practical if I wanted it to be a bigger system. It was good for us this morning just in case, but that’s it.” 

“I guess,” Korra shrugged in reassurance. “I still think it's cool. Stylish,” she said with a wink. 

Asami snorted and rolled her eyes as she poked again at Korra’s wristband. “Is that why you’re still wearing it? We’re right next to each other, you know. It’s not like we’ll use it. Too lazy to take it off?” 

“I didn’t really think to take it off since we put them on this morning.” Korra's mind briefly replayed her time at Air Temple Island; she could almost reimagine the warmth and confidence she felt when she looked over the young version of the city. _'We built this. We did this together,'_ echoed in her mind. She shrugged once again, pushing to stay present. “Plus, I kind of like it. Even if you figure out a whole system eventually, it’s cool that these two are just for us.” 

Asami smiled at Korra's sentiment as she glanced down at her own wrist, realizing that she hadn’t taken it off either. After her date and Korra's visit to Air Temple Island, they were in a mad rush to get ready for duty. They hadn't even had a chance to talk about their days yet, and a warehouse platform overlooking an Equalist meeting didn't seem like the best place to catch up. Still, the idea that the wristbands were just for them two filled her with warmth. 

Korra noticed Asami quieted, taken inward by thought. She could have asked about it, but the opportunity for fun bubbled up in her own mind. It was too good to pass up. “Plus, imagine all the fun ways I can annoy you with it from now on." 

Asami’s reaction was almost instant. Her grip on Korra’s wrist tightened, and she raised her other up high, preparing for another swat. Fortunately for Korra, they were interrupted before her punishment could be delivered. 

“I thought you two were here to fight benders, not each other,” a grizzled voice said as Chen came into view from the nearby ladder. 

Asami dropped her hand from its ready-to-strike position and finally let go of Korra’s wrist. “She was being annoying,” she tattled. 

Korra shot her a glare. 

“I understand,” he nodded grimly. 

Korra shot him a glare, too. “First off, that’s rude. Second off, you should be used to it by now. Don’t punish me for being myself.” She pouted, looking back and forth between the mean people surrounding her before looking at Chen a little more seriously. “Were we making too much noise, Chen?” The serious look was immediately wiped away with a smirk. “Or should I say, Lieutenant?” 

He grunted, expression unmoving. “No, you’re fine. We can’t hear you down there. I just needed to make sure you two hadn’t fallen asleep. Or beaten each other up or something. And you don’t have to call me that if it's just you two. It's weird to see you be formal, Korra." 

Another pout. 

“Well,” Asami replied with a sly grin towards her best friend. “I guess I’ve been keeping myself awake because I've been beating her up.” 

The pout intensified. 

Asami rose from her seated position, picking her mask from the ground before rising to stretch. “It’s my turn to do a round. I’ll be right back.” She intentionally bumped Korra with her knee as she began her route across the platforms. 

Korra stood as well, making sure to pick up her mask and keep it on-hand per protocol, before moving to stand beside Chen. She leaned over the railing. “How’s it going down there?” 

“Boring.” 

She chuffed at her caretaker’s monotone response. “It must be really bad if you’re saying it.” 

Chen let out a sharp puff of air - a laugh, perhaps. “It is. I’m glad you don’t have to be down there to suffer through it.” 

Korra blew upwards, moving some baby hairs from her forehead. “No one is budging, still?” 

“Change is coming, but it’s slow. Everyone wants us to be stronger. No one agrees how. Some want to go for a more public uprising now. Others are against it entirely.” 

“What do you think?” 

He hummed, the low timbre of his voice making it sound like a growl. “I think Amon’s plans are right. We need to take a stand, but we need to be patient about it. We need our numbers to grow and our people to come together. But some old heads don’t like that we’re pushing so hard for these underground facilities and forced training.” 

“Why? You said that it would be a good way for us to get some unity and direction. Plus, it’s not a bad idea for us to learn to protect ourselves out there in the meantime.” 

“You’re right, but some of my generation are still fearful of the idea. It’s too much like an army to them.” 

“I thought that was the point?” 

“It is, but the 100 Year War was not all that long ago, and our parents were all affected in some way. It seems people hoped they could escape hardship for longer. They don’t realize that it never went away. It looks different, but it's still here. We've always had it tough. There just isn’t a war for society to use as an excuse anymore.” He sighed. “It's like not like this is how I wanted it to go either, but it might be the best way.” 

Korra hummed in acknowledgement. Chen talked to her about this a few times before, and she was beginning to understand all sides better. Non-benders had a hard enough time being undervalued in society, whether it was not being afforded as job opportunities, being victimized and unprotected against violence, or generally being seen as inferior and less useful than benders. She even experienced some of this firsthand; her first interaction in Republic City was an attempted Triad mugging. It seemed like there was no perfect way to fight for a voice. In order to make a difference for all non-benders, the Equalists would just have to agree on a direction and stand together in that choice. Any action was better than continued complacency. 

She glanced out of the corner of her eye and noticed Chen was looking directly at her, a thought forming at the tip of his tongue. She waited patiently for him to speak. 

“You’re doing well, Korra.” 

She cocked her head slightly. “Thanks?” 

“I mean it. You and Asami have been working hard, and you’ve both been very patient with us.” He put a strong hand on her shoulder, his slim brown eyes as soft as she’s ever seen them. “I promised you that your role would increase, and it will. These meetings are good for people to voice their thoughts, but it won't stop the change that has to come. Amon wants us to begin mandatory training within the month. I want you to be in the first unit. You’ll be getting top training, and I know you’ll be quick to move up the ranks. I’ll talk to Hiroshi about Asami, but I want you there for sure, if that’s what you want.” 

She stared at him, moved by his trust. Chen had been her caretaker since she arrived in Republic City. He was kind and patient with her but was seldom expressive; that was just his nature. It made gestures like this all the more meaningful. “You think I’m ready for that?” 

“You are, Korra. You’re determined. Decisive. You can be a leader if you let yourself be one.” His reassuring grip tightened. “You understand something about having power that very few people do, and you don’t even realize it.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“A fight like ours isn’t for everyone, and you know that. But people like us fight for what’s right because we want to help everyone, even those who don’t see the value in what we're doing or how we do it. I see that in you. There are many in our movement right now who are afraid to act. It’s understandable. We can’t force them to if they are not ready or willing, but we can still fight for them. I know you feel that way, too. You can be trusted as a leader because you know to fight for more than yourself or those close to you. You stand for everyone." 

A crooked smile appeared on her face at his encouragement. She felt a flame flicker under her growing confidence and warm her chest. She believed that he meant every word, and more importantly, she believed that he believed in her. 

“I’m in.” 

A grin tugged at his lips but was interrupted as his eyes looked down. “You’re blinking.” 

“What? Oh!” Korra gazed at her wristband and noticed a light blinking from underneath the strong fabric. “It’s a signal Asami’s been testing. It only goes off if…” she trailed off, her thoughts catching up with her mouth. 

Suddenly alert, Korra looked rapidly across the platforms before catching Asami on a distant one across the building. She was tensely gripping at her mask, preparing to put it on. Once she knew that she caught Korra’s attention, she gestured downwards toward the crowd. 

Korra tightened her ponytail and looked down to the warehouse floor, sensing Chen catch on and do the same. 

At first, little seemed out of the ordinary. There was still a scrum of people - 30 or 40 of them - all crowded in a circle listening to one of the members making an impassioned speech. It was probably the tenth person to step into the middle and speak. Nothing out of place there. 

Still, Korra knew better than to question Asami’s observational skills. Her mind was sharp like Korra’s instinct, which Korra was now allowing to guide her eyes. It only took a few seconds, but she saw them - a few people in the throng twitching their gazes rapidly toward one another. It was subtle and only noticeable from this birds-eye view. They were clearly communicating something. One was hovering near the edges with a tense stance; it was probably her movements that caught Asami's eye to begin with. 

Chen noticed it, too. “Let’s go find out what that is. Signal the end guards.” 

Korra deftly slipped on her mask and made minor adjustments, grateful to be testing out Asami’s new uniform design. The air guards over the mouth and nose area were significantly better fitting and easier to breathe through than the old versions. She made sure Chen was clear of the ladder before she grabbed onto both sides, sliding down and skipping all the rungs. Before heading to the back of the floor, she tapped the wall near two of the guards, catching their attention. They nodded and moved to positions closer to the entrance - their jobs being to set a perimeter. 

A scream erupted from the crowd before Korra could even round the corner; everything else happened in a blur. 

A series of crashes. Panicked footsteps and shouts. The shake of the floor beneath them. The smell of smoke. The instant warming of the room. 

It took almost a full minute for Korra’s mind to register that a group of benders had infiltrated the meeting and were causing havoc. Fortunately, her body was quicker to action than her mind, and she was already moving. She couldn’t tell how many intruders there were and heard other Equalist guards fighting at other ends of the warehouse. Korra stayed focused on the things she could see. 

Two firebenders were in the middle of the floor, recklessly shooting blasts everywhere. It seemed as though they weren’t aiming at anyone in particular, just trying to scatter the crowd. Korra also caught sight of meeting attendees holding onto their arms and legs as they made their way to the exits. They weren't trained guards. They were just members, harmlessly trying to voice their thoughts - now running away with burns and fear. 

Fire was a dangerous element, and these benders didn’t seem to care who they hit with it. 

The scene enraged Korra, and she was determined to stop them before Asami would have to. Asami would probably be more than happy to take two firebenders out, but Korra knew it would also bring up memories that shouldn’t ever have to resurface. Not like this. 

Korra slid to one of the darker corners and waited for a gap in the firebenders’ cruel dance before launching herself forward at one, aiming low to disrupt his stance and take out his legs. Firebending was a fast-hitting style, and Korra knew she either had to be quick to regain her balance or disable her opponent. 

She went for the latter option, grabbing her opponent’s leg in a tight lock and twisting her body. The firebender yelled in pain and sent an errant blast towards her head. He was too close to get a good angle, but it was close enough that flames danced past the edges of Korra’s face and shoulder. Fortunately, the updated air guards on her mask helped shield her from inhaling the scorched air, and the fire-resistant material seemed to do its job protecting her body from the rest of heat. Korra doubled her efforts on the bender’s leg until she heard a faint pop and scream. She hoped it would cause enough pain to render him useless long enough to take care of the second one. 

Before she could finish that thought, another uniformed Equalist slipped into the other firebender’s range and sprinted smoothly around a blast. Korra recognized from movements alone that this was Asami. 

She also knew that Asami at close range was not going to be fun for the firebender. 

Korra had barely closed half the distance between them by the time Asami had landed several deft strikes on the poor woman, blocking her chi and leaving her limp on the ground, groaning in pain. 

The groans made Korra wince slightly. Asami had always taken to their basic chi-blocking training better than Korra had. The final lesson for basic chi-blocking involved precision and pain; precision chi-blockers could control whether they wanted to block someone’s pathways with only some pain or with a lot. It also affected how long chi-blocking would last and several other things that Korra struggled to grasp. It was too technical for her. 

Asami, on the other hand, excelled in this part of the training, and - based on the sounds the downed firebender was making - she had not chosen to be merciful. It did mean the chi-blocking would wear off more quickly, but that didn't matter much; pain was always an effective incapacitator. 

“Upper Guard, how many left?” Korra asked, making sure to use their position group name rather than her actual name. 

“Not sure. Lieutenant had an earthbender and waterbender, and I took out another waterbender in the back. Let’s check with-” 

A small shiver of the earth signaled the pair to jump back just in time for the ground to shift and spike upwards. 

“Shit,” Asami hissed. "Earthbender." 

Korra hadn’t said anything out loud but shared the same sentiment. Waterbenders and firebenders were challenging enough because of the speed and directness of their movements. Earthbenders, however, were an even bigger threat in ways because they were unpredictable. Their attacks did not always come directly from their body or a source of water, so it was not good enough to just keep the opponent in front; attacks could come from any source of earth in the vicinity in any direction. Equalist guards were taught to always have the quickest precision chi-blockers take on earth benders, meaning that Asami was the ideal match-up here. However, Korra was not one to let someone else take on danger - not if she could help it. 

As Asami tried to glide across the floor and close the distance, Korra took her usual direct approach. She sprung forward, attacking the earthbender straight on. A shift of the ground beneath her feet sent her tumbling roughly to the side, but she was able to recover and roll to her feet. The earthbender, though, was unexpectedly nimble and reacted quickly enough to give Asami similar trouble in closing the distance with trembling earth and flying stone. 

“Damn it,” Asami cursed tensely, unable to get a good position. 

Korra, though, still felt a flicker of confidence. He was troublesome, but this was a two-on-one, and it wasn't just any two. 

Asami and Korra knew a few things about getting in and out of trouble. 

Korra once again rushed forward at their opponent, who had turned towards the side to keep his eyes on an agile Asami. It was apparently the perfect angle for Korra, and the bender didn’t sense her movement. Korra closed the distance and struck his midsection twice, causing him to grunt but not double-over. He was sturdy, and it would likely take a lot to knock him down. 

So, Korra decided on one of the only chi-blocking moves she had been able to pick up and execute reliably. She sent a few heavy-handed strikes towards the bender’s neck and upper body area, blocking the right chi paths to immediately render him unconscious. 

The duo did a once-over of the warehouse floor from where they stood, engaging all of their senses to ensure that there were no more threats. There weren’t. 

Korra took in a few deep breaths, trying to regain control of her racing heart while Asami walked towards her, her breath having already evened out. “Are you alright?” she asked. 

“I am,” Korra replied, glancing towards the three downed benders around them, particularly the two firebenders. “I forgot how fast you were. I was trying to finish up before you got here.” 

A sound came from Asami’s mask that was likely a harsh laugh. “Maybe next time we train, I’ll make sure to go full throttle so you don't forget.” She gently nudged the earthbender beneath them with her foot, checking to make sure he was truly out. “You probably should work on your technique a bit. That was still pretty sloppy,” she teased. 

“Really? You’re going to lecture me on chi-blocking again? Right now?” Korra rolled her eyes, but it wasn’t visible in the mask. She hoped her best friend could hear it in her tone. “Let’s check for others.” 

“We got everyone,” Chen’s rough voice rattled through the warehouse as he jogged over, identifiable by his sleeker mask and the single, heavy baton on his belt. There was a smear of blood on the weapon. “Are you both alright?” 

The duo was pulled from their banter and back into a sobering reality. They watched as the floor guards grabbed the downed intruders. 

“Good job disabling them. We'll hang onto our little visitors for a bit. We'll have a few questions waiting for them when they wake back up.” There was hostility in his face before it softened slightly. “You both did well.” 

An uneasy air hung between them, littered with questions that they knew could not be answered today. Any sense of safety they had was shaken, but it hadn't fully registered yet. 

“Let’s check on the other members. We re-group and go home tonight,” Chen said. “It’s all we can do.” 

The two nodded, almost meekly. It was unusual for them to be this silent. The questions still dangled in the air before them, taunting them. There had never been an intrusion on their meetings like this before. There was usually little reason to; the meetings were the most mundane of all Equalist activities. There had been no warning for this. They had almost not caught it in time. 

“Hey,” Chen’s voice cut in once more. He seemed to pour as much reassurance into his words as he could muster. “I meant it when I said you did well. You caught it before they could do much more damage. You acted quickly. And you,” his masked gaze locked onto Korra’s. “I meant what I said before. Once what happened tonight sinks in, the movement will feel this. Hard. We've never been attacked like this before. Maybe it’s the wake up call we need.” His words were full of conviction, but a slight shake of his head betrayed an unspoken conflict within him. “I said changes were coming, and this is probably going to force us to make even bigger changes faster, whether we like it or not. You'll be needed.” 

Chen briskly walked away, leaving them to collect themselves before they re-grouped with the others. 

A few beats later, Korra reached up towards Asami and put a comforting hand on her forearm. “You are okay, right?” She hoped Asami knew what was on her mind - the fact that Asami had to go head-to-head with a reckless firebender. 

She seemed to understand. “I am. Thanks.” Her response was short but genuine. There would be no more questions in that domain tonight. 

“Good.” Korra gave her arm a quick squeeze and let out a large breath, feeling the rest of her tension go with it. 

“You were right about the wristbands, I guess. Keeping them on paid off after all.” 

Korra could hear the grin in her voice, even through the mask. It made her smile back. “You know me. I’m always right.” 

Asami responded with a playful nudge. 

“I’m glad you used it, though," Korra said. 

“I’m glad you understood what I was trying to tell you.” 

“Of course. It’s you and me, right?” Korra was still grinning. She remembered how easy it was to remain confident while facing the earthbender, and another memory briefly flashed through her mind, leaking it's sentiment into her words. ' _We did this together.'_ "No one can take us.” 

“Right,” Asami chuckled as she dusted off her uniform and wiggled her wristband. “You said it before. Better together.” 

“Yup. Better together.” 

The two kept their masked gazes locked. They took a final minute to let go of the moment and appreciate having gotten through everything in one piece before they made their way to debrief with the other Equalists. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _This chapter was written with the help of songs like:  
>  Meet Me @ the Altar - Beyond My Control  
> Tiny Moving Parts - Whale Watching  
> _


	8. Chapter 7: Snag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _In the previous chapter: A boring Equalist meeting becomes less boring, Asami's brain does good, Korra's muscles do good, and Chen sort of emotes._  
>  \---  
>  **In this chapter:** Korra wakes up first, Asami gets started on something, and Asami pushes the pause button on something else.

Two mornings after the Equalist meeting was infiltrated, Korra found herself in one of the Sato Estate’s training rooms. It wasn’t odd for her to be working out, even after a big incident like the meeting. What was odd was that Korra was the first to wake up. 

Korra had lived in Republic City for three years and split approximately half of her nights between the Sato Estate and Chen's home. In all the nights spent with the Satos, she had probably woken up before Asami no more than a dozen times. It wasn’t that she was very slothian by nature; neither she nor Asami were particularly big sleepers. Korra just found Asami’s enormous bed to be so comfortable and welcoming that she rarely woke up before her very-early-rising best friend. 

However, this was the second day in a row that she was awake first. 

The morning immediately after the Equalist meeting, Korra was unable to go back to sleep and tried to take great interest in the contours of Asami’s bedroom ceiling. Both she and Asami had cancelled their plans for the day, knowing that they would need time to decompress after such a jarring night. Because of this, Korra wasn’t sure what to do with herself after waking up. While she and her Asami had a standing agreement that they could turn to each other at any time, Korra was hesitant to do so. The evening had been tough on both of them, and she was not going to rob Asami of any more sleep than necessary. Fortunately, Asami woke up on her own not long after, and Korra ended her thorough ceiling investigation without making any fascinating discoveries. 

The rest of the day was unusually usual. There was little to no mention of the events of the day before except for a few comments about soreness and the occasional grumble about bumps and bruises. For a full day, they could pretend that none of the weirdness from the prior day even happened. No Equalist meeting happened. No benders attacked the meeting - because it never happened. Asami didn’t go on a date. Korra didn’t go to Air Temple Island. 

They really needed those 24 hours of pretending, but reality had to come back some time. 

And that’s how Korra found herself working out before the sun was even up. The trials of the other day were catching up to her, and she was feeling confined - burdened by something intangible. So, she let her body do the processing for her. It was how she always handled things when she felt a snag. 

This snag, though, was a strange one. 

It didn’t quite hit her until she realized what her body was doing. She had thought to work through the tension from the infiltration, thinking it would help to prepare for her upcoming combat training and clear her head. Without conscious thought, Korra had transitioned from footwork drills to practicing bending forms. Her body was betraying a truth that she had yet to fully grasp: what happened that morning at Air Temple Island was _weird_. That was about as detailed of a conclusion as she was able to come to, and her mind wouldn't let her forget it. 

Korra was having strikingly vivid dreams about that view of the city for the past two nights. She didn't find the dreams to be particularly unsettling; they were simply puzzling. She had only visited Air Temple Island three times, and yet she found that scene and the words that filled her mind to be comforting - familiar almost. 

Mentally stewing on the topic wasn’t fruitful. As a matter of fact, something in her gut was telling her that this wasn’t something to think on. It was something to feel through. 

So, she did just that. Just as Jinora taught her with regards to meditation, Korra let go. Perhaps she was not sitting in a serene setting, but she realized that there were other ways to reach that meditative state - a state of acceptance and acquiescence to what may come next. She let her body dictate what it should do, what it needed. It always knew how to get her out of a snag. If bending forms were what it needed to do, then that’s what she was going to do. 

The memory of her dreams came flooding unhindered through her mind. 

That scene. That warmth. 

_‘We built this.'_

Calm flowing through her body like water. Conviction down to her bones, keeping her grounded. 

She remembered how the scene in her dreams continued beyond what she saw on the island and with it came a rush of sensations. 

_'We did this together.’_

The pride swelling in her chest, full of vibrance and life. The lightness in that voice, like the dance of the wind. 

There was an energy growing in her. It was invigorating. 

_‘I used to wonder how it was that I ended up here - in this time.’_

And with the final movement of a form and a sharp exhale, she jumped back to clarity. Remnants of her dream were still floating through her, but they were finally dissipating; the echoes were only a fleeting whisper in her mind, fading peacefully away with each second. 

_‘Then I think about what we built - everything we’ve done…’_

She was back in the present, feeling the release of endorphins in her body and a buzz rippling through her muscles. She felt lighter. Whatever snag she felt earlier had vanished, and she was unencumbered once again. Working out was certainly a good idea. 

_‘...and I realize it doesn't matter how I ended up here.’_

In a way, listening to her dreams was just what she needed. It really didn’t matter how she got to where she was. She wasn’t going to let herself fixate too strongly on her past or the fact that the Equalists were arguing amongst themselves or the recent memory of the attack. She had an opportunity now to train and change it. She had to make the most of the chances she was given. 

_‘I found you and everything changed for the better.’_

As Chen had said of her, she was going to fight for what was right and do what was needed of her. 

Korra rolled her shoulders and checked the steadiness of her breath one more time. After deciding that she had sufficiently cooled down, she marched her way out of the training room to rinse off and get ready for the rest of her day. On her way to the restroom, Korra noticed the door to Asami’s personal workroom was open. 

“You’re awake,” Korra commented, poking her head through the doorway. 

Asami flicked her eyes up briefly from the notebook she was buried in. “You woke up first.” 

A sheepish smile appeared on Korra’s face. Asami hadn’t asked a question, but she could still hear it. She responded with a simple shrug. “I couldn’t go back to sleep, I guess.” 

“You woke up first yesterday, too.” Her pen scribbled furiously to finish a thought before Asami dropped it unceremoniously onto the desk. “Is everything okay?” 

“I’m alright.” It was the truth; Korra was actually feeling quite good now. She made her way into the room and plopped onto the desk, letting her legs swing and dangle off the front. “I’ve just had some extra energy since yesterday, I guess. Thought I’d work it off.“ 

Asami hummed in acknowledgment and folded her hands under her chin, resting her elbows on the desk. “That makes sense. I’m feeling a bit of that, too.” 

She leaned back to peak at Asami’s notebook, knowing that she wouldn’t mind. “This is your ‘ _Thinky Book’_ right? What are you working on?” 

Asami smirked. Korra was right in that she had been writing ideas in her brainstorming notebook, but her refusal to call anything by a normal name was always amusing. “I’ve just been thinking about what happened the other day and some of the things that Chen said. He’s right, you know. Things are going to have to change faster, whether we like it or not.” 

“Yeah. Chen told me he’d talk to your dad about training in the first unit with me. Imagine how awesome that would be! You and me, kicking ass just like we always do.” 

There was a glimmer in Asami’s eyes. “Let’s make sure my dad says yes to that,” she chuckled. “But I’ve also been trying to think of other things we can do. My dad and I are already working on technological advances. That can help some, but then I started thinking more about how technology and science has made things better for non-benders in general.” 

Korra nodded, following along. “Right. Like how the cities in the Earth Kingdom used to have those chutes that relied on earthbending, but here we have cars and trucks so anyone can move things around.” 

“Yes. I was also thinking about how lucky I’ve been. My dad was already starting to make it big with the Satomobile and his inventions when I was still a baby. He had me home-schooled not just because he was overprotective after my mom died but also because he wanted me to learn about technology and engineering, and since all the schools are mixed with benders and non-benders, they don’t teach it as much there.” 

“I remember you telling me that before. So what’s your idea?” 

Asami deflated slightly with a small pout. “That’s the thing. I’m not entirely sure, but I know it has to do with money.” 

Korra laughed to herself at Asami’s demeanor. Sure, she seemed defeated, but Korra was counting the seconds in her head before Asami would work through it enough to verbalize it. Her mind always worked so quickly. 

“Something about investing in ways to give non-benders more opportunities in the city.” 

There it was - right on cue. “So like, schools and stuff like you had?” 

“Yeah, maybe?” Asami picked up her pen and began twirling it idly between her fingers. “Better education since expected education already ends so early here. More job opportunities in general maybe. Stuff like that. I’m just not sure how it’ll work. I’ll have to talk to my dad about it.” 

“What’s the snag, you think? I’m sure he won’t have any issues with you trying to invest in the city. You told me the Satomobile alone changed the way the whole city worked.” 

The innovator nodded. “It did. A bunch of competitors popped up, and the competition made people push harder for better inventions. Roads and everything were redesigned. People could travel more easily to all areas of the city.” She was now rhythmically tapping her pen on the notepad. “The problem I’m having is similar to what my dad had to go through to get there. He told me how hard it was to convince people that this invention was going to be good for everyone. People thought it was cool but unnecessary, and that’s because people were looking from a bending of view. They already had systems of travel in place, so why would they need a car? They already had chutes and cart systems that used bending, so why did they need trucks? Even after he made it big with the Satomobile, he had the same trouble making way with any invention.” Asami’s pen tapping was now frantic. “Like when he proposed new ways to help the power plants and they took some of the ideas to make the generators better. But they tossed out the control panel system that anyone could manage because they thought it was an unnecessary extra part. That's why they still need lighting benders. So I’ve been trying to think of ways to invest our money somewhere useful, but as long as long as everything is from a bending perspective, they’re never going to see the point of putting work into things that’ll make things better for non-benders unless it helps them, too.” 

Korra gently rescued the pen from its beating, noticing how worked up Asami was getting from her rant. “So what you’re saying is that people are stubborn.” 

The small quip seemed to do the trick in pulling Asami from her spiral. She exhaled, dramatically allowing her forehead to fall to her desk with a thud. “So stubborn, Korra. So damn stubborn.” 

She laughed, playfully petting the back of Asami’s downed head. “If there’s anyone who can find a way, it’s you and your dad. He figured it out before, and that’s how you had the chance to get good at all of this thinking stuff, too. Now you’re trying to use all of that to keep making things better. You can do this.” Her smile was full of warmth, even though her best friend was still very much face-down on the desk and couldn’t see it. 

After a few moments, Asami sighed and let the tension release. “You’re right, Korra. Thank you. It’s just frustrating.” She eventually sat up, grabbing onto Korra’s hand to stop the pats. “By the way, Mako called me earlier.” 

“Oh?” She had almost forgotten to ask about Asami’s date entirely. “He was up this early?” 

“I guess so. Maybe he’s a morning person, too.” 

“What did he call for?” 

“He just asked to go on a walk in a bit. Enjoy the weather or something.” Asami looked up at Korra’s eyes, taking in the questions she hadn’t yet asked. “He was really sweet on our date. Not what I expected.” 

Korra hummed pensively. “So do you think he’s involved in any of the Triad rumor stuff?” 

“I’m not sure. He doesn't seem like the type that would, but I barely know him. I can’t really say.” 

“So do you think he’s still a good person to get info from?” 

“I don’t know. What do you think?” 

Korra paused, somewhat surprised at the ask. “Who knows? You’re the smart one here. It might be good for you to get to know him better anyway. If he’s involved, you’ll figure it out, and if he’s not then at least you go on dates with a cute, nice guy.” 

“You’re right,” she mumbled some hesitation. “A walk might be good anyway. Are you still going to the island today?” 

“Yup.” Korra slipped her hand from Asami’s grasp and hopped down from the desk. She turned to look over the surface, making sure she didn’t drip sweat anywhere important; she remembered that she still had to rinse off. “I won’t be there too long, though. Chen said he wanted to talk to me before my night shift.” 

“Do you know what about?” 

“Not really. Probably something about the training stuff he mentioned.” 

“Or maybe it’s about your chi-blocking,” Asami deadpanned. 

Korra’s eyes narrowed. “Asami…” 

“What? You’re the one who complained that you’d rather _‘Hit things hard instead of hit things right.’_ ” 

She didn’t have a proper comeback and so poured it all into an extreme pout, but she was secretly relieved that Asami appeared to be feeling lighter compared to minutes before. They both began to move out of the room - Korra to wash up and Asami to get ready for her walk. 

“Oh hey, Asami?” 

“Hm?” 

“I know things are a little crazy right now, and you’ve already been working so hard this morning so…” 

“So...?” Asami regretted her response immediately, as she noticed a devious smile creep up on Korra’s lips. She must have thought of a comeback after all. 

“Don’t run over any other cute pro-benders on your way there, alright?” 

Then she bolted, and - as usual - Asami chased. 

\--- 

Spending time with Mako was surprisingly easy again. Once they met up and cracked a few jokes about Mako seeming desperate for calling so soon after the first date, the two began to walk around and exchange small facts about one another. After a quick debate about their favorite snacks, the conversation fell into a comfortable lull. Asami took a moment to look up at him from the side of her vision, taking in his features and the kindness that always seemed to sit behind his amber eyes. He was quiet, gentle, and admittedly handsome. 

Rather than let herself get drawn into that rabbithole of thought, Asami found a simpler curiosity to settle. “Hey you were wearing that same scarf the other day.” 

He gazed down and grabbed the article as if it hadn’t been on him the whole time. “Oh, this? I like to wear it whenever I can.” His already soft voice lowered a little more. “It was my dad’s, so I hang onto it to remember him.” 

Asami felt a pang in her heart and instinctively brushed a hand over Mako’s arm as they naturally began to slow their pace. 

He leaned towards the touch, understanding the gesture; she was inviting him to share but giving him space not to. His eyes locked with hers for a moment, studying them. Whatever he saw must have given him the confidence to open up. “I still miss them sometimes - my parents. My brother was too young to remember, but I was there when they died.” Mako took a steady breath, and both of them slowed to a stop. “It was a mugging gone wrong. A firebender cut them down right in front of me.” A bit of rage broke through his expression before it settled back to its neutral state. 

A series of memories flashed in Asami’s mind as the sting in her heart grew. “I’m sorry, Mako.” 

“Thank you.” 

“It’s hard, isn’t it? Losing parents when you’re that young? I was only a kid when my mom died, too.” 

Mako reciprocated Asami’s previous gesture with a touch on her shoulder. “It was hard. I’m lucky I had Bolin. We were so young, and I had to be the one to take care of him. But I don’t know where my head would be if I didn’t have that.” 

Asami smiled slightly but felt the sudden need to keep moving. She started walking again, grateful to see Mako follow. “That makes sense. It feels like that with me and my dad sometimes. We always had each other.” 

He matched her small smile with a warm grin. “You two must be very close.” 

“We are. It’s hard since we’re both really busy these days, but it’s okay. He’s always worked really hard for us.” 

Mako nodded in understanding. “I get that. My brother still gives me a hard time about being overprotective sometimes. When we first started out, I think I took on a lot of the responsibility to take care of everything on my own. I had a lot of anger.” He rubbed his upper arm nervously. “I got into some trouble when we were young to get by, and I tried to keep it from Bolin as long as I could. It caught up to both of us eventually, and Bolin had to hammer it into my head that I didn’t have to do everything myself. He wanted to help. He actually was the one that helped get us out of the mess I made, and then we eventually turned to pro-bending instead. To be honest, though, some habits are hard to break. He’s still my little brother, you know? I’d do anything to protect him. I’m sure your father feels the same way towards you. Even though you’re also working for Future Industries now, I bet his default is to do everything he can for you. I know mine still is.” 

Asami fell into a pensive silence, and Mako didn’t seem to mind. She felt her thoughts split into two different directions, and she struggled to stay focused or find a way to tie them together. 

On one end, she was getting decent information about Mako, but she still didn’t know what to do about it. He still hadn’t given her any reason to suspect him of anything, and he was being quite open. It made her want to keep trusting him. She began to hope that her investigation wouldn’t pan out. If what he was saying was true, he deserved to make it big in pro-bending and find the success he’d been working so hard to achieve. 

The larger portion of Asami’s mind kept returning to her father. He always seemed so eager and willing to do anything necessary to take care of Asami. When she was a child, he worked to provide for her but also made sure she never felt lost or alone. Now that she was older, he still worked tirelessly to protect her future. 

Hearing Mako talk about his relationship with his brother made Asami feel like a little girl again; all she wanted to do was go home, wrap her dad up in a big hug, eat takeout from his favorite restaurant, and work on a project together. 

Asami stopped once more and looked at Mako carefully - deeply. She really didn’t couldn’t find anything suspicious about him. After everything he had been through - and with how deeply his story resonated with Asami - she really didn’t want to find anything. She couldn’t use him. Not like this. 

If she had to investigate the gym, she was going to do it another way. Or she was going to talk to her father about passing off the assignment to work on new things. Her heart wasn’t going to be in this mission, especially with so any other things looming over the Equalists now. 

Whatever the reason was, she couldn’t keep this up, and she didn’t want to risk hurting him. Even after what Korra said about dating him, Asami couldn’t do that, could she? 

“Mako,” she said slowly. “This has been really fun, but-” 

His eyes twitched briefly, realizing what she was about to say. Surprising Asami once again, they didn’t show any anger or disappointment. They softened even further in understanding. “-but you’re not interested in this.” 

“I’m sorry. I just don’t think I’m looking to be dating at all. Not right now.” 

“Not right now,” he repeated softly. His smile seemed sincere. “It’s okay, Asami. You don’t have to be sorry. Friends at least?” 

She smiled back. “Friends. I can do that.” 

After a few more minutes of genuinely peaceful silence, they finished their walk and parted ways. Asami felt a weight lift of her chest for the second time today. 

Perhaps Korra was right. Asami just needed to put her energy into opportunities that made sense to her - that energized her. As she made her way to her Satomobile, ideas already began to form in her mind. Better yet, she knew her father was going to be home tonight, and they could spend the time working together. 

But before that, there was one more thing that she wanted to do. 

She started her vehicle and took a detour on the way home, stopping by her father’s favorite restaurant to pick up food as a surprise. After talking to Mako, she wanted to do anything she could to show her appreciation for everything her father had done for her, even though - deep down - she knew she may never fully grasp the lengths he had gone through to take care of his family. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my friends has been reading chapters a little ahead of my posting schedule and is demanding I quote them for this endnote despite me saying I’m keeping endnotes short. For context, I haven't done much creative writing in the past 10ish years, but this friend has known my creative side for a while.
> 
> _"WTF. You're still doing this soft-foreshadowing shit? You're still so character cruel. You’re so much worse when you do fanfics. Do you still only write slow build stuff? Warn people about your long set-ups at least. Actually, just put what I said into your chapter, you sick fuck."_
> 
> Thanks, friend.  
> \---  
>  _This chapter was written with the help of songs like:_  
>  _Tiny Moving Parts - Soft Spot_


	9. Chapter 8: Eyes Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _In the previous chapter: Korra wakes up first, Asami gets started on something, and Asami pushes the pause button on something else._  
>  \---  
>  **In this chapter:** Jinora figures something big out, Korra stays blissfully ignorant, and Chen encourages Korra to get better at hitting things.
> 
> AKA The calm before the storm.
> 
> AKA Buckle up after this chapter, lovely folks. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late post. Dissertation and work have been kicking my butt.

Pema was apparently a fantastic cook. Despite Korra arriving after lunchtime and saying that she wouldn't be staying very long, Pema insisted that she partake in some sweet buns and a small sampling of noodles leftover from lunch. The smell was tantalizing, and Korra didn’t have the willpower to resist. She shook away a pang of guilt at the hospitality; Korra had also shared with the airbending family that she may not be able to come as often anymore because she was getting busy. She couldn’t tell them why and was grateful that they, as usual, didn’t push for more information. However, there were many sad and pleading looks from the children. Before the young ones could get too worked up, Korra promised to continue to visit when she could, which seemed to be enough to placate their little hearts. 

In similar fashion to her previous visit, the first few minutes of her time at Air Temple Island were filled with family and fun; Ikki and Meelo were riding spheres of air - which Korra learned were referred to as air scooters - around an outdoor area while Pema fussed over feeding Korra. Master Tenzin was once again away with city council business. And then there was Jinora. 

Jinora seemed to be staring. A lot. 

Korra worried that Jinora was taking the news of Korra’s decreased visits hard. She already felt a close connection with Jinora even though they had only met a few times. The part that Korra was oblivious to was the fact that Jinora was on the cusp of making a significant discovery. Had Korra been more observant, she would have recognized that Jinora held a similar expression after Korra first heard the light-voiced man in her previous visit. The airbender caught wind of something at that moment and made it her personal mission to confirm her suspicions. Korra, however, was none the wiser. 

Jinora’s investigative glances were subtle to begin with; the airbender seemed energized and alert when Korra first arrived. Then again, so were her siblings, so Korra didn’t think much of it. Besides, she had noodles and buns to consume and so paid attention to little else. However, as she began to settle in and watch the younger siblings zip around the courtyard, she started to feel attentive eyes tracking her every movement. Each time she flicked her eyes to catch Jinora’s, the young airbender would quickly turn away. This curious dance continued for several minutes. 

Eventually, Pema ushered Ikki and Meelo to complete their chores but not before generously leaving Korra with another pair of sweet buns to split with Jinora and her intense gaze. The young airbender was sneaky enough that Korra wondered if she was making something out of nothing; she had been more vigilant since the attack on the Equalist meeting, after all. Either way, she wouldn’t know if she didn’t ask. 

After taking a final, happy bite from her bun, she sighed and turned to her young, staring friend. “Is everything alright, Jinora? You seem a little off.” 

The girl blinked, surprised. “Oh, yeah. I’m okay. I’m just wondering about something.” 

Korra grinned at her friend’s slight stammer. Jinora was smart and very mature for her age, but she was still only 10-years-old; there were bound to be slips in her attempted sneakiness. “You know, you can talk about it if you want. What are big sisters for?” she smirked, remembering what Pema and Tenzin had said about Korra last time. 

Jinora smiled sheepishly. “I thought I was supposed to be telling you that. I’m sure there’s a lot on your mind. I know you first came here because you wanted to work through some things.” 

“Right.” Korra nodded in response, having almost forgotten about the reasons she had made up to visit in the first place. She worried that if she said too much, she would give herself away. It was hard enough knowing that she couldn’t get as close to this family as she wanted to and that her time was running out. 

Jinora noticed Korra biting her tongue and wondered if this would be her chance to test her suspicions. Still, she didn’t want to be too forward. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I just hope that coming here has been helping.” 

Korra’s expression warmed immediately. “It is, Jinora. I’ve really liked coming here.” She felt herself teetering dangerously close to being too open but couldn’t help herself. “I’m just not entirely sure how to make sense of what’s going on in my head. It’s been getting easier to deal with it, though. It’s sad that I won’t be able to come as often.” She mentally sighed in relief at being able to find a response that technically wasn’t a lie. 

Jinora briefly studied Korra’s face one more time before sweeping her gaze towards the distant pagoda from their spot in the courtyard. “That’s okay. I hope you can keep working on whatever it is. It’s like what I told you about meditation. I was always taught that things happen for a reason. Sometimes the reasons just don’t reveal themselves unless we keep our minds open to it and stay patient.” 

Korra hummed in wonder. “Do you think that’s true?” 

The young airbender shrugged and grinned. “Sometimes I think so. Other times, I think there’s no reason, but we just find ways to make the best of things if we let the chances come.” 

A genuine laugh escaped Korra’s lips. “You’re pretty smart, Jinora, you know that?” 

The girl blushed slightly. “I had good teachers.” 

“Well, they’re smart, too. And they must have known you were the right person to teach all this stuff to.” 

There was an extended pause as Jinora figured out a way to navigate the conversation in the direction she wanted it to go. “Hey, can I tell you something?” 

“Sure.” 

“You’re right that I’ve had really great teachers. The one who’s taught me the most has been my dad. My dad says he learned almost everything he knows from Grandpa Aang.” A sliver of sadness slid through her piercing stare. “I never got to meet Grandpa Aang, but my dad always used to tell me that it was okay because we would get to meet him in his new life one day. Then one day, my dad stopped saying that.” Jinora’s eyes tracked Korra’s expression carefully like she was looking for any sort of reaction. “I know my dad was really looking forward to meeting the new avatar because I know how much he misses Grandpa Aang. He wants to make him proud by teaching the new avatar. But I think he’s been getting more and more sad about waiting for so long.” 

“What about all that stuff about patience you’ve been talking about?” Korra hoped her quip wouldn’t take away from the vulnerability Jinora was gifting her. 

Thankfully, it didn’t. The airbender cracked a smile despite not getting the reaction she was expecting. “My Gran Gran told us the same thing, actually. She told us about how sometimes it's a matter of someone being in the right place at the right time. She told us about how Grandpa Aang ran away because he didn’t want to be the avatar, and that’s how he ended up in an iceberg and meeting my Gran Gran. She told us that he was guilty at first for running away because he thought he could have stopped the war from happening if he didn’t run. But when he was older, he realized he really couldn’t know what would have happened if he stayed in the Air Temple when the Fire Nation attacked.” 

Korra nodded. She had heard the story of Avatar Aang when she was in the compound. However, hearing this side of it made the story seem less like a history lesson. This version of the story felt so much more human; she felt her emotions swirl in empathy for what Avatar Aang must have gone through and the bravery involved in making peace with how things turned out. 

_‘I used to wonder how it was that I ended up here - in this time.’_

The flashback was sudden, but it didn’t fully pull her from the present. She still noticed Jinora’s eyes boring into hers, and Korra made sure to keep her expression steady, pushing the noise in her head to a bare whisper. Jinora was being open and vulnerable, and Korra was determined to shake off any distractions in order to be a good friend. 

Jinora pressed on, sensing a shift in Korra despite her unchanging expression. “He said it was more important to focus on doing what he could in the present. Even though he disappeared for 100 years, he ended up meeting everyone to help end the war and make this city. He ended up in the right place and the right time, and he changed the world.” 

_‘Then I think about what we built - everything we’ve done - and I realize it doesn't matter how I ended up here. I found you and everything changed for the better._ _And what we did is probably so small in comparison for what’s to come - the opportunities for those ahead of us. We did this, but all we are is just a part of something limitless.’_

Jinora felt it. She was certain this time. There was a shift in Korra’s aura, something that Jinora was becoming sensitive to - likely something she picked up from spending time with her Aunt Kya. Despite this definite shift, however, Korra did not waver. 

It then dawned on Jinora that Korra might not even know what was going on - that she didn’t know exactly _who_ she was. Jinora had been working under the suspicion that Korra knew everything but was hiding from it like her grandpa did. Now, Jinora was realizing that Korra likely didn’t know anything at all. This put Jinora in a different predicament, but before she could do anything, she had to be sure of her conclusions about Korra’s identity. 

Meanwhile, Korra was taking in everything that Jinora said, moved that she would be trusted with something that felt so personal. She tried her best to shake off her guilt at not being able to visit the island as often and poured her heart into reassuring her young friend. Korra lightly touched Jinora’s arm with a kind smile. She knew that her mission wouldn’t allow her to be fully open with this family, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be authentic. “I mean it when I say you’re smart, Jinora. It’s amazing. You remind me of my best friend sometimes. You’re smart in so many ways, and you have a big heart, and you’re strong. That seems to run in your family.” She gave the girl’s arm a small squeeze. “I know it’s not much, but thank you for telling me all of that. It’s an amazing story.” 

The airbender released a deep breath and smiled sweetly at Korra. “Thank you, Korra. For listening and everything.” She felt a warmth in her chest blossom from Korra’s kindness; Jinora may have had other reasons for opening up, but the sentiment shared in the moment was real. 

“Of course. Like I said, what are big sisters for?” she said with a cheesy wink. 

Jinora laughed fully. Then, an idea came to mind about a possible way to reveal to Korra the truth about herself. She just needed a little more time. “Korra, I know you said you were getting busier, but do you think you can come by one more time tomorrow? You were really nice about everything I said, and I want to show you something.” 

Korra thought about it for a moment. She didn’t have much to do the next day after she recovered from her night shift, and training would certainly not start for several days or even weeks. She was planning on visiting less leading up to it, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t spare a few hours while she was still free. “Yeah, I can come again. Probably some time in the morning?” 

“That would be great! I’ll just look for the lanterns as always.” Jinora’s face brightened. 

“Great!” Korra stretched her arms above her head and rolled her shoulders as she looked up towards the sky, taking in the time. She still had to talk to Chen before her shift. “I should probably go. Tell your mom thanks again for the food. She definitely convinced me to come back for dinner one of these days.” 

“Okay,” the girl replied as she hopped off her spot on the bench. She was still mentally formulating her plan, internally wincing that she couldn’t think of a less-jarring way to bring this up with Korra; she would have to be rather direct. She knew that she had to do it, but she had to be sure. Otherwise she would certainly risk scaring Korra, losing her as a friend, and upsetting her father. “Hey, Korra?” she said, forcing a playfulness into her tone. “Since you’re basically my big sister now, I’m just curious - how old are you?” 

Korra chuckled. “I’m 16. That’s not too old to be your sister, is it?” 

Jinora smiled. “No. That’s perfect.” 

\--- 

Korra jogged through the doorway of Chen’s home, not wanting to be late in case their talk went long. She wasn’t sure what to expect after he said that he wanted to speak to her, so she decided to jog from the docks instead of walk in order to clear her head. She had been able to stay focused on Jinora during her visit to Air Temple Island, but Korra was not blind to the fact that she heard more whispers while she was there. Rather than let it pull her into another snag, she let her body work itself out on the way here. 

By the time she arrived, she was fully at ease but a little sweaty. 

“You really can’t do anything halfway, can you, Korra?” Chen said gruffly in reference to her panting and sweating as soon as he caught sight of her walking through the door. 

She grinned, proudly putting her hands on her hips. “That’s not true. I didn’t run here. I jogged.” She loved giving Chen a hard time. 

He raised an eyebrow and grunted. “Fair enough.” 

Korra sauntered towards the rickety table in the center of the small apartment home. Chen lived simply and spent most of his time elsewhere, meaning he never invested much into making the space feel homey. Still, Korra found the apartment to be charming in it’s own way. She plopped her elbows onto the table, not caring that it shook slightly, and rested her head on her hands. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?” 

Chen moved at his own pace. He had been in the kitchen area and was placing some dry goods back into the cupboards before taking his seat at the other side of that old table. He was dressed casually, with a worn black sweater and a mop of stringy black hair falling just above his eyes. It seemed that he was done working for the day. 

He mirrored Korra’s posture, folding his hands under his chin. “You’ve been doing well.” 

Korra tilted her head in confusion. “You’ve told me that already, Chen.” 

“I know. Because it’s true. I don’t want you to think it has gone unnoticed.” He lifted one of his hands towards his thin mustache, idly twirling one side of it. “I told you that we need you as a leader. I realized I never asked you if that’s what you wanted.” 

A small smile tugged at her lips. She wasn’t entirely sure where he was going with this, but she appreciated him being considerate of her feelings. “You did ask me. I already said yes to training and everything. You know me. Cracking skulls and all that?” 

He hummed softly in acknowledgement and paused before continuing. “I know. I just want to make sure.” His hard brown eyes met hers. “We have decided on a lot of big changes. I want you to be a part of it. All of it. There are plans in the works, and I want you to be standing beside me as we move forward from now on. No more hanging in the shadows or doing warehouse work. You’ll be doing so much more, if you’re open to it.” 

The smile now fully stretched across her face. Today was the day of being trusted, she guessed - first with Asami asking about Mako, then with Jinora talking about her dad’s worries, and now with Chen. She was moved beyond words. “I am. You know I am. You don’t have to keep asking me. What’s this about?” 

He sighed, tiredness etched into his grizzled features. “I hope I haven’t been holding you back.” 

“What do you mean?” Korra asked back, unable to hide her concern. She rarely heard uncertainty from her caretaker. 

“I know I have been zealous in protecting you since you arrived.” He straightened out, but the vulnerability was still evident in his voice. “I was always so worried about something happening to you because of where you came from. But just in the past days since you’ve taken charge of your own assignment and spent more time out in the world, I’ve seen a change in you. Going to Air Temple Island. Planning your own path with Asami. The way you handled yourself at the last meeting. I’ve been so proud, and it’s just made me wonder-” 

“Hey, Chen. It’s okay. I know why you’ve done things the way you have. It’s fine.” She interrupted him quickly, not wanting to bring up any bad memories. Korra was one of the few people who knew about Chen’s family and the reasons behind his protectiveness. She didn’t blame him one bit for how he’s taken care of her. “I’m just excited to have the chance now. That’s what matters now, right?” she offered with hesitant enthusiasm. 

He was receptive to it and returned to his typical stiff demeanor, taking a moment to clear his throat. “Good. I’m glad to hear it, Korra. You’re going to have to put in a lot of work. I’ll be bringing you to higher level meetings very soon, but training comes first.” He looked up at her with a small smile. “Especially your chi-blocking.” 

Korra pouted. “Hey. It’s not that easy!” 

“Hmph. It’s because you’d rather hit things hard than hit things right.” 

Her eyes narrowed. “Asami told you that joke, didn’t she? You don’t do jokes.” 

Chen chuckled warmly. “Hiroshi told me, actually. Apparently she took a jab at you while talking to her dad about joining the first unit.” 

“Rude,” she said with a bigger pout. “I’ll get her for that later.” 

He laughed fully in response. “How about you get her for that now? You don’t need to take this shift if you’d like the rest of the day off. I figured you’d rather spend the day there. I’ll be weaning you off box-duty.” 

Korra immediately brightened. Despite it's odd start, today was proving to be a very good day. There was just one more thing that would make it even better. 

“I’ll do that but first, do you want to have dinner together? It’s been a while since it’s just been us.” 

He blinked in surprise for just a moment before he smiled wider than she’s seen him in a long time. “I’d like that.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the most build-up-focused chapter of the whole story. So I mean it when I say buckle up. Things are about to happen.
> 
> Proof: A spoiler - The next chapter is titled “Deal With It”  
> \---  
>  _This chapter was written with the help of songs like:_  
>  _Hot Mulligan - Green Squirrel in Pretty Bad Shape_


	10. Chapter 9: Deal With It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _In the previous chapter: Jinora figures something big out, Korra stays blissfully ignorant, and Chen encourages Korra to get better at hitting things._  
>  \---  
>  **In this chapter:** Asami's gotta deal with it, Korra's gotta deal with it, and you gotta deal with it.

Asami was solid at nearly everything she did, and that included sleep. Neither she nor Korra were particularly big sleepers, but it was for different reasons. Korra tended to toss, turn, and wake up across the night. This often left her feeling hilariously groggy in the mornings, and she usually needed a long time to fully enter the world after physically waking up. Asami, on the other hand, didn’t sleep for very long, but she slept soundly and had the mystical ability to be lucid within moments of waking up. 

These were things Korra wanted to take full advantage of this morning. 

Unfortunately for Asami’s face, Korra had - once again - woken up first. She had been reluctant to disturb Asami’s sleep in the past few days when this occurred, but that was not the case this morning. After an evening filled with giggles, snack wars, and Asami repeatedly destroying Korra’s pillow fort, Korra was in a vengeful mood. 

However, she was not particularly creative this morning and resorted to one of her usual annoyance tactics - poking. 

Korra was pretty sure that Asami was no longer asleep after three cautious pokes to her cheek and forehead, but it was hard to tell; Asami laid on her side, facing away from Korra, and she refused to stir. The only proof Korra had about Asami’s consciousness were slight changes in her breathing and possible twitches that Korra could barely make out from her angle. Another boop towards what was probably Asami’s nose yielded similar results. She was about to go in again before an icy voice almost startled her off the bed. 

“Korra.” 

The voice was Asami’s, but she had barely moved. Her tone was laced with threat, but she still looked completely asleep. 

After a few perplexed blinks, Korra went in again with a vicious poke to her best friend’s chin. 

“I swear I’m going to bite your fingers off.” 

Korra snickered and, against her better judgement, went in for another strike. 

Unsurprisingly, Asami - being Asami and being fully lucid despite her rude awakening - was prepared. She nabbed Korra by the wrist and nipped her finger. 

“Asami!” Korra yelped. “You actually bit me!” 

“I said I would,” she responded dryly, turning from her side to her back just in time to catch a glimpse of Korra’s massive pout. 

Korra struggled to free her wrist from Asami’s vice-like grip before eventually resigning herself to her fate. “I didn’t think you’d actually do it, though,” she whined and dropped from her propped elbow onto her back. 

“You know me, Korra. I keep my word,” Asami responded with a coy wink before concern seeped into her voice. “Couldn’t go back to sleep again?” 

Korra shrugged, not sure what to say. It was a rhetorical question, and the answer was obvious. However, she didn’t like it when Asami worried about her. 

Thankfully, Asami seemed to get the hint and accepted the response for what it was rather than pry further. “So, you decided to take it out on my face?” 

“Hey!” Korra defended while lifting up her head for a moment to look down and glare at Asami. “That’s what you get for messing up my fort yesterday.” 

“You’re the one who knocked it down.” 

“You were tickling me!” 

“It’s not my fault you’re ticklish.” 

“It isn’t mine either,” Korra grumbled as she plopped her head back into her pillow with a smile on her face. 

The pair fell into a comfortable silence, and Korra found herself lulled into a slight trance by the sensation of Asami’s fingers idly tracing Korra’s wristband. Even though Chen and Asami often teased Korra for having too much energy and not being able to sit still, Korra knew that Asami was actually the fidgety one between the two. She was always tinkering with whatever small item was within reach or tracing random patterns into something with her fingertips; lately, her tactile attentions were drawn to Korra’s wristband, which neither of them had taken off since the night of the Equalist meeting. 

In Korra’s mind, that evening seemed to signify a great change, but she was unsure exactly what that meant. She buzzed with both excitement and trepidation at the thought of things changing. The past few days had been a roller coaster of events and emotions - between the bender attack at the Equalist meeting, her growing bond with the airbending family, Chen’s vote of confidence, anticipation of a leadership role within the Equalist movement, and what could only be described as unusual visions of Air Temple Island. Korra should have been reeling. 

But she wasn’t. 

She knew that this was, at least in part, due to her own method of processing. It was easier for her not to get wrapped up in things when she often stopped herself from overthinking to begin with; she was less likely to get stuck because she didn’t let herself dwell on anything for too long. 

The rest of her strength, though, she knew did not come from within her. She needed stability - an anchor - to keep her tethered in this looming storm. For Korra, this something was her friendship with Asami. 

This fact felt particularly salient last night. Of course, she already cherished their friendship deeply. However, there were some moments that made Korra truly appreciate how meaningful their bond was to her, and yesterday evening had been one of them. 

Chen giving Korra the night off was a blessing in disguise. While Korra and Asami hadn’t done anything different or special, Korra had woken up feeling more centered than she had in a long time. After a typical evening of laughter and antics, the two ended the night talking while laying side-by-side on Asami’s luxuriously comfortable bed. Asami opened up about her decision to end things with Mako before anything could really get started as well as her admiration for Mako’s resilience in light of his hardship. 

Korra had been planning on talking to Asami about Air Temple Island, her visions, and her dreams that night but then lost track of time. They powered through drooping eyelids and the haze of sleep for as long as possible while talking about Mako, but eventually Asami succumbed to sleep, leaving Korra to instead sit in admiration of her best friend’s incredible heart. Asami had every right to be wary or even hate Mako - a firebender with a shady history - and she instead wanted to do right by him. She was even rooting for his success in life. 

If Korra had any worries about sharing her unusual experiences with Asami, they had been thoroughly quashed. Asami was the most considerate and understanding person she knew, and she was the best person to help Korra make sense of a nonsensical situation; Asami had an amazing ability to find something when there seemed to be nothing. All they needed was time to sit down and talk about it. 

A friendly squeeze on her wrist drew Korra from her thoughts. 

“Korra, you’re thinking.” Asami turned her head, her vibrant green eyes shining in the glow of the morning light. “You should be careful about that.” 

“Hah. Hah.” Korra smirked playfully and turned to her side, propping herself up on her elbow once again. “You’re my best friend, you know that, right?” 

Asami cocked an eyebrow, surprised at the off-the-cuff compliment. “And you’re mine,” she said with another squeeze of Korra’s wrist. “What’s this about?” 

“Nothing,” Korra responded, with a mischievous grin. She reluctantly slid her hand from Asami’s loose grasp and rolled off the bed, but not before kicking up her blankets to sufficiently bury Asami on her way up. 

“Korra!” 

She snickered as she stood and stretched, not at all surprised when a pillow was indignantly tossed at her face. Korra fought the urge to immediately throw it back, putting a pause to their antics for the time being. “Since I’m already up, I might head to Air Temple Island a little early today. If I’m lucky and start my warehouse shift earlier this evening, I can get off earlier and come straight here.” 

Asami also sat up, rolling her neck and smoothing her wavy black hair with her hands. “It’s your last shift, right?” 

“That’s what Chen said. He tried to get me out of doing any more shifts at all, but he said they still need a little help tonight. Then I’m free.” Korra watched Asami roll her neck and suddenly noticed the stiffness in her own, bending it back and forth with a satisfying ripple of cracks on both sides. “And I actually wanted to tell you something that’s been on my mind for a while. We fell asleep last night before I could. Tomorrow, maybe?” 

Asami’s eyes scanned Korra’s for a moment. She nodded, seemingly satisfied that the lack of tension in Korra’s voice was adequate indication that nothing was urgently wrong. “Okay. Tomorrow, it is. I won’t let you forget,” she said with a wink. 

Korra laughed. “Come on, Asami. I’m not that bad.” 

She was met with a skeptical look and another raised eyebrow. 

Asami was met with a pillow to her face. She chuffed and giggled as it fell lamely back onto the bed. “What am I going to do with you, Korra?” 

“Nothing. You’re stuck with me,” Korra grinned, moving to exit the room and get ready for her day. “You’re my best friend, and you gotta deal with it.” 

\--- 

Korra had a slight skip to her step by the time she stepped off the ferry and onto Air Temple Island. She was feeling better than she had in a while, having not even realized that she was being bogged down by everything going on. 

Her lightness immediately faltered when she caught sight of Jinora. The young airbender had her usual friendly smile on but had a palpable intensity around her. She didn’t seem to be carrying any veiled anger or fear; if anything, her look could be described as determined. 

The two exchanged their usual friendly greetings as Korra tried to get a read on her friend’s mood. There was no indication yet that anything was off. She forced herself to relax and enjoy her time there while she still could; Jinora did say she wanted to show Korra something, and she wanted to be as attentive as possible. The two fell into light small talk as Jinora led them around the island and past the community building. As they rounded the corner to a smaller structure, Korra noticed Jinora lightly flicking at her own fingers. She was nervous, and it was making Korra nervous. 

They entered the small building, which housed a single room. It was quaint and simple in design, but what stood out most were the walls. Picture scrolls and delicate paintings covered every one of them, and an empty frame sat in the middle of the room. 

Korra was surrounded by avatars of the past, and the empty space in the middle of the room spoke for itself. 

Her heart started to beat out of her chest, and her hands began to shake. She had no idea why her body was reacting in this way. 

“Korra,” Jinora said softly, approaching Korra from the side. She was cautious, as if approaching a cornered animal. “Do you know why I brought you here?” 

She shook her head, her jaw seemingly locked shut in inexplicable tension. She still didn’t understand her own reaction. Was she upset? Afraid? 

Jinora took a deep breath to steady herself. Whatever she was getting at was clearly activating her as well. “These are all the avatars. All the Air Temples have a room for them, so Grandpa Aang made a small one here when they built Air Temple Island. He’s right over there.” She pointed at a framed picture of Avatar Aang in the corner, distinct from the others as the only photograph among a series of hand-painted figures on scrolls or canvases. “We were waiting to meet the new avatar and eventually put their picture here.” She gestured towards the empty space in the middle. 

The young airbender was speaking gently and saying things that Korra could have deduced on her own. Still, Korra found herself getting more nervous with every word. Her time at the compound came rushing back to her, and she pushed it away, instead making room for another series of now-familiar visions flooding into her mind. 

_‘...and I realize it doesn't matter how I ended up here. I found you and everything changed for the better.’_

“I know this might sound crazy,” Jinora continued, “But I think this is you.” 

She felt the blood drain from her extremities, filling her with a sudden cold like the chill of the Southern air. “No, there’s some mistake,” Korra stammered, her mouth barely working. 

Jinora remained cautious but insistent. “Korra, you’re the right age. You’re from the Water Tribe. You-” 

“No!” She snapped without thinking. She was reeling with everything going on, but her mistake was currently at the forefront of her mind. She shouldn’t have revealed her age. She shouldn’t have let Jinora figure out who she was. She could get taken away again. “You can’t take me back there. It’s a mistake. I won’t go back to the compound.” She didn’t want to go. She was supposed to be here. For some reason, she knew she was supposed to be here. 

The young airbender moved in front of Korra and reached her hand out but knew better than to touch the panicking teenager. “It’s not a mistake, Korra. I’m sure of it.” 

_‘And what we did is probably so small in comparison for what’s to come - the opportunities for those ahead of us. We did this, but all we are is just a part of something limitless.’_

Jinora looked up fiercely. “You felt that, didn’t you?” 

Korra’s eyes widened, and her surprise allowed her to focus through the storm in her head. “You can hear it, too?” 

The airbender shook her head. “Not the same as you, I think. I see your aura. Your energy changes. It happened when you were in Avatar Aang’s spot. And you’re feeling it now because you’re here. With all your past lives.” 

“I don’t understand. What-” 

_‘And that doesn’t intimidate me at all because I found you. I couldn’t have done this without you.’_

The storm of thoughts and sensations returned. Korra felt adrenaline - and maybe something else - course through her veins, and it was rapidly becoming too much. She was feeling everything and nothing all at once. 

“Korra!” Jinora was calling out to her. She was yelling. Or maybe she was whispering. Korra couldn’t tell anymore. 

“This isn’t right,” Korra stuttered, not sure if she was even speaking or not. “This can’t be-” 

_‘I know now that was how it’s supposed to go. Here and now. This is where I was meant to be.’_

Korra wasn’t tethered anymore. She was in a panic. She couldn’t take it. 

Her mind saved itself by leaving its present state. She was a world - a lifetime away. Otherwise, she would have registered that Tenzin had rushed into the room, noticing the commotion. She might have felt the air swirl around her. She might have heard Jinora standing steadfast but wide-eyed before her, all the while saying something about Korra’s eyes. 

Instead, all Korra knew was a warmth enveloping her once cold and trembling limbs. Her muscles surged with power as a comforting light washed over her shaken spirit. A soothing union of thousands of voices and 10,000 years worth of wisdom flooded her mind before the world faded black, and then white. 

_‘It's okay, Korra,’_ the voices said. _‘Here and now. This is where you’re meant to be.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _This chapter was written with the help of songs like:  
>  Something Corporate - As You Sleep  
> From Indian Lakes - Breathe, Desperately_


	11. Chapter 10: What That Means to You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _In the previous chapter: Asami's gotta deal with it, Korra's gotta deal with it, and you gotta deal with it._  
>  \---  
>  **In this chapter:** Korra realizes what "dealing with it" entails.

_Korra was nervous, but she had no reason to be. All of their talks had been heading in this direction. She wasn’t even going to indulge in any grand gestures or officially ask for anything. All she was going to do was speak what was in her heart. Something so simple shouldn’t be this terrifying, right?_

_Her inner romantic seemed to disagree. It decided to do cartwheels in her stomach, place a brick with the weight of an Air Bison on her chest, and make her heart beat louder than a human heart ever should._

_Then she turned and caught a glimpse of her favorite blue eyes, and her nerves suddenly vanished; those eyes could always right her world with just a single look. The woman laughed joyously, and it was like music to her ears. The traditional Water Tribe loops in her hair swung playfully as she leaned from where she was standing to reach for Korra’s hand._

_“Aang, you have that serious look on your face again.”_

\- 

A part of Korra’s mind recognized that this wasn’t her name. This wasn’t her memory, but she was seeing it through Avatar Aang’s eyes and feeling it with his heart. Through his memories, she knew this woman’s name. 

\- 

_Katara leaned into Aang’s shoulder as they looked across Yue Bay to the heart of Republic City. It was still a young town but carried with it the promise of a better future. Aang pulled his beloved in with an arm around her shoulders and lightly kissed the top of her head, still fondly remembering how she used to have to be the one leaning down to kiss him when they were younger._

_They had been together for so long that it would have been easy to forget how much life they had ahead of them. Their city was young, and so were they._

_But Aang never let himself forget. While he was biologically still in his 20’s, he also had the benefit of another century to his calendar as well as the wisdom of 10,000 years worth of lifetimes at his disposal. He knew how precious time was, especially with the ones he loved._

_He took in the sight of the young city and his heart swelled with pride. He marvelled at how he got to this moment - how a moment of fear as a child led him to flee across an ocean only to be caught in a storm and eventually suspended in time for a century in the cold grasp of ice; how a moment of boldness led Katara to the very iceberg that he slumbered in; and how the unbreakable bond between him and his friends ended a war to make way for a new era. All of that brought him here, to this very moment. It was just him, the love of his life, and the city that symbolized so much._

_“We built this. We did this together,” he said gently, running through the words he practiced so many times before. His light voice hung in the air, cradled warmly by the ocean breeze. “I used to wonder how it was that I ended up here - in this time.” He dropped his arm from Katara’s shoulders to slide his hand into hers. “Then I think about what we built - everything we’ve done - and I realize it doesn't matter how I ended up here. I found you, and everything changed for the better.”_

_Katara turned her head to meet his gaze, a warm grin stretched across her face. Her eyes danced with his but she didn’t say a word, giving him space to continue._

_Aang’s breath hitched before he managed to compose himself. This was too important for him to be reduced to a stuttering mess. “And what we did is probably so small in comparison for what’s to come - the opportunities for those ahead of us. We did this, but all we are is just a part of something limitless. And that doesn’t intimidate me at all because I found you. I couldn’t have done this without you.” He shifted his weight to face her completely and took her other hand in his. “I know now that was how it’s supposed to go. Here and now. This is where I was meant to be. I love you, Katara.”_

_“I love you, too.”_

_He indulged himself with a quick peck to her lips. He wasn’t finished yet, but he knew better than to try to resist her pull. “I’m the Avatar. I know there are no guarantees, but I need you to know how much this means to me. All of this. All of you.”_

_“Aang, I know. We already talked about this. You don’t-”_

_“I know I don’t have to, but...” he said, suddenly losing hold of his practiced words. He wasn’t going to ask for forever - not yet. They both knew they wanted it, but they agreed to wait until Aang was ready; perhaps it was his duty to the world, or perhaps it was his upbringing as a nomad, but Aang was only just becoming accustomed to having a place - and a heart - to call his home. Until he was ready, they agreed to enjoy their version of forever by cherishing every moment, day by day. But Aang wanted Katara to know how close he was to being ready for the real forever. He needed her to know._

_She seemed to read her beloved’s thoughts and kissed him once more, calming his racing mind with the linger of her lips. “Aang, I know.”_

_He looked at her. Of course she knew. She always knew the words he kept locked in his heart, unable to find an eloquent path outward. She was the one who was always taking his breath away to begin with; of course she was taking in his words along with it. “I know you know,” he conceded, suddenly feeling shy._

_“Remember what you always told me…” she trailed off, leaving the end of the sentence for Aang to catch._

_And that he did. “The future may seem fragile, and the past may be looming over our shoulders, but it’s okay for things to be uncertain as long as I’m with you.”_

_She smiled. “That’s all I need to know for now. Just say you’re with me.”_

_He smiled back, amused that she was able to get him to summarize his whole flowery speech in just a few words. “Of course, my love. I’m with you. Always.”_

\- 

Korra was in her mind once again, bathed in a sea of white light. She couldn’t find the sound of her voice. She couldn’t make sense of her form. She was in her mind but not yet in her body. All she could do was feel. 

Just feel and listen. 

“That’s when I knew I was ready, you know.” Avatar Aang’s voice echoed in Korra’s mind. "It’s funny how that works, right? I was being so cautious. I didn’t want to say anything I didn’t mean. I didn't want to promise anything I wasn't ready for. But as soon as the pressure to be ready was gone, I was. That was when I knew.” 

He wasn't there in front of her, but he was everywhere all at once. Korra wanted to respond. She wanted to ask questions. She wanted to scold him for being so vague and mysterious. She wanted to know what he meant because he wasn't making sense. Nothing was making sense. She wanted to scream. There was nothing she could do. 

Just feel and listen. 

“Your connection with us isn’t strong yet, Korra. You’re still not sure. You’re still scared. I understand.” 

Her unexpressed frustrations were laid bare, and she could say nothing in response. 

“I wasn’t sure at first, either. I was famous for running away for a while, you know. But the secret part is that I wasn’t just unsure at the beginning. I wasn't sure for a while after, too. It’s okay, Korra.” 

Oddly, she found his voice and sentiments to be soothing. Things didn't need to make sense right now. She didn’t understand, and yet she felt understood. 

“You have a decision to make, Korra. You are who you are, but what you do with it is now your choice. No one can make it for you, but I'm hoping you choose to move forward. I can say this: the greatest favor we can do for the world is live our truth. We have the greatest capacity to create positive change when we are the truest versions of ourselves, even if it takes time to get there. You are needed, Korra. Seek your truth; running won’t get you there. Find out what that means to you.” 

And with that, the one-sided connection was severed. 

\--- 

Korra woke up on a firm mattress. She recognized the architecture of Air Temple Island and figured she must have been moved to a bed somehow. She stayed still for several moments, trying to absorb everything that had just occurred. She almost wished it felt like a dream - wished that she had more doubts. 

She didn’t. She knew what happened to her was real. She didn't just hear Avatar Aang's words. She felt them. She knew. 

Korra was the Avatar. 

A wave of uncharacteristic cynicism swept through her mind. Like many children, Korra was first excited at the possibility of being the Avatar - master of all elements and the most powerful human on the planet. A few years into her life at the compound, Korra came to terms with the idea that she wasn’t the Avatar after all and that she would simply have to live in protection until the true Avatar revealed themselves. 

Then, at 13-years-old, she was overcome with an unspeakable desire to leave the compound. She didn’t know why. It wasn't a typical feeling of just not wanting to be there. She just felt pulled to escape and go somewhere else - like she was needed somewhere else. 

And so she escaped. She made a life for herself in Republic City. She was happy. She was making a difference for non-benders like herself. She was going to move up the ranks of the Equalists. 

Then, she turned out to be the Avatar. 

The Avatar - the one person that Amon, the near-consensus leader of the Equalists, feared. It was not a well-known fact, but Korra had a feeling that it was true. Few people had ever met the elusive Amon, but Korra and Asami had once overheard a conversation between Chen and Hiroshi about Amon’s push to act while there was no Avatar. 

The Avatar would be a hindrance to the movement. The Avatar would be a threat to the Equalists. 

Korra was an Equalist. Korra was the Avatar. 

Where did she stand now? 

Korra finally broke from her thoughts and stirred, alerting several small persons in the room to her consciousness. 

A playful weight plopped atop her stomach, and the mattress beside her shoulder rocked up and down, indicating that an excited presence was bouncing it’s hands on the side of the bed. Ikki and Meelo were here. 

The two fired off questions so rapidly that the noise cancelled itself out. This was to Korra’s benefit; she was in no space to field questions, but she was grateful not to have been in the room alone. The children were a lot, but their energy was comforting in a way. It grounded her. 

“Ikki! Meelo! Get off! We don’t even know if she’s okay.” Jinora rushed to the side of the bed, trying to nudge her siblings away. She sent them to fetch their father and locked eyes with Korra for a moment, concern and apology etched into her gaze. 

“I'm okay, Jinora,” Korra said, her voice steadier than she expected it to be. The silence was instantly thick in the room. What else was she supposed to say? 

Jinora took the brave leap. “Korra, do you remember what happened?” 

The answer was yes, but Korra felt odd admitting it. Things should have been more confusing. Wasn’t that always how it went in the stories she read at the Sato Estate? Wasn’t this supposed to feel hazy and unclear? In actuality, the level of clarity Korra felt in the moment was unnerving. “I do.” Her tone was serious. Solemn. Heavy. 

The young airbender nodded. Her voice was quiet and laced with guilt. “My dad is on the phone with Gran-Gran. He already talked to the White Lotus. They’re talking about your training and everything already. They want you to go to the Southern Water Tribe.” 

Korra sighed. It made sense. That would be the most reasonable next step. Her path was revealing itself for her. 

A distant part of her didn’t want to go back to the South Pole. A more present part of her wondered why that first voice was so distant. She had always been so adamant about not wanting to go back. She wondered why and how she was so quick to accept this new reality. 

_‘Seek your truth; running won’t get you there,’_ Avatar Aang had told her. 

He was right, but she wished he wasn’t. It would have almost been easier to be confused or angry. It would have been simpler to be in denial. That would have been an understandable and human reaction. 

The facts didn’t add up - why she didn’t pass the typical tests as a kid to determine if she was the Avatar, why she hadn’t shown any bending ability her entire life, why she had felt so mysteriously compelled to go to Republic City and live as a non-bender only to finally connect with Avatar Aang’s spirit after so many years; and why she was not at all questioning that she had to go straight into Avatar training. There was a thread of investigation and logic that could potentially tie all of those together. 

That wasn’t how Korra worked, though. Things didn't make sense, but sense wasn't what she needed. She had to follow her gut. 

_‘Find out what that means to you.’_

Korra knew who she was, but she didn't know what that meant. 

She had to go back to the South Pole, back to her first home. Korra had to look for answers herself, and the only way to do that was continue forward, even if that meant leaving everything else behind. She had to “go straight to the source” as Asami would have said. 

The thought of Asami sent a spike of anxiety through Korra’s very being. Asami. Hiroshi. Chen. She didn’t know what to do about them. Korra had undergone the beginnings of a great spiritual awakening and had the benefit of thousands of lifetimes reaching her - even if only for a moment - to convince her of this reality. Whatever had occurred while she was unconscious had made her certain of the direction she needed to go in. However, explaining this to anyone else, especially to an Equalist, seemed like an impossible task. 

While Korra didn't have doubts about her next steps, she started wondering if she should regret her past a bit more. If she had been more open about her time in the compound, could someone have made sense of this sooner? If she had told someone about the pull to come to Republic City, would anyone have guessed it was possibly a spiritual matter? If she had told Asami about her dreams and visions as soon as they happened, would it have been this hard to have to leave her suddenly, without a proper explanation? 

Korra didn't even know what parts she could or should explain. She didn't know if she would be believed or accepted. She didn't know if telling too many others about her identity would put them in danger; no one ever figured out who tried to kidnap the potential Avatars or why. Secrecy had always meant safety for her and her loved ones, and now she had another big secret to carry. 

There were too many factors to consider, and it was happening too fast. 

But that didn't mean Korra could just leave without a trace. She hadn’t even fled the Southern Water Tribe in that way; she at least had the forethought to sneak a note to her parents before she escaped the compound. She should do the same here. It wouldn’t be much, but she had to at least leave them something, especially Asami. She owed her that much. 

Korra sat up on the bed, surprised that she was not feeling shaky. She must not have been down for long, even though it felt like a lifetime ago; technically, it was. “Hey, Jinora?” 

The young airbender had been patiently waiting for Korra to go through her process and was now snapped to attention. “Is something wrong?” 

“I just need some help. Maybe a favor. But first, do you have a pen and paper?” 

Jinora nodded and ran off to fetch the items. 

Meanwhile Korra stared sharply at the wall in front of her, steeling her resolve for what she was about to do. She had no doubts that she was making the right choice for herself, but she cringed at the thought of not doing right by those who cared for her across the last few years. 

But she knew this was the right thing for her. She had to find her truth. 

All she could do was hope that, maybe one day, she would be forgiven for who she turned out to be. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Korra is now officially the Avatar, but that doesn’t mean her Equalist past will be brushed aside. She spent 16 years as a non-bender, and that doesn't just go away.
> 
> One of my goals for this work and the series as a whole is to keep the issues regarding the Equalists/non-benders present in the plot, even as we go into the storylines with Season 2-4 villains in future works. Our characters’ circumstances and actions - and the scarring that inevitably comes with them - will play a large role in their development and arcs down the line. Thank you all for staying tuned!  
> \---  
>  _This chapter was written with the help of songs like:_  
>  _Knuckle Puck - In Your Crosshairs_


	12. Chapter 11: Poetic, In a Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _In the previous chapter: Korra realizes what "dealing with it" entails._  
>  \---  
>  **In this chapter:** Eight months, three weeks, and two days have passed, and Asami definitely hasn't been counting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for slow update again. My excuse? Life. Life is hard sometimes.

Asami really needed to clean her desk. Chances were that the file she was looking for was buried somewhere under the chaos of the workspace in her personal office. She was hoping just to reach down and get lucky, but it seemed that she had no choice but to do things the hard way. Knowing her luck, the documents she sought were at the very bottom of one of these piles. 

The young innovator sighed and rocked her head slowly from one side to the other, trying to work through the tightness in the muscles from her neck to her right shoulder. The last raid had been a success, but Asami might have pushed herself a bit too hard. Proof of that was in the envelope - likely containing a commendation letter - at the top of the largest pile on her desk. 

Asami was a part of the raid team that destroyed a Triad hideout two days prior. It was a near-perfect operation. Significant damage of property. Easy disruption to Agni Kai operations. No Triads, civilians, or Equalists harmed - except for the two members of the Equalist raid team that tried to bolt before the operation was over. One looked like they were trying to steal property for themselves and flee, and the other seemed to have been shaken up from the damage they caused. Or perhaps they were running for some other reason. Asami didn’t care to ask. She chased them and took them down herself. 

It was possible that she was a bit rougher than she needed to be, but no one complained - no one who was conscious, anyway. 

This was the second time that Asami had found herself roughing up fellow Equalists at a raid. This was the second commendation letter she had gotten for the action. She didn’t care for the praise. She just couldn't stand for cowards on her team that wanted to leave mid-operation without saying a word to anyone. 

If that was how they wanted to treat members of this family, Asami was going to do what she could to run them down and make them face the people they were leaving behind. They had the right to leave the movement, but not without looking their brothers and sisters in the eye first. It was only fair. 

There hadn’t been as many deserters in the past months compared to the first year of Amon’s leadership, and the higher recruitment was more than enough to offset the few that did decide to leave. The Equalists were becoming more active, and it was making headlines. They went from being seen as petty vandals to being an organized gang on par with the Triads to being a potential terrorist group. The Council had yet to make a formal declaration to name them as terrorists, but there was talk that it could happen soon. 

Asami tore open the envelope and skimmed the commendation, noting that it was signed “Lieutenant” and had a stamp of Amon’s seal in place of a signature. When she saw the two marks on her first commendation, she had been slightly put off by how impersonal it felt. Now, she didn’t really care. She wasn't surprised that Amon used a seal rather than a signature, and Lieutenant Chen hadn’t stopped by the Estate for a friendly visit in months. It gradually felt more natural to just see him as her Lieutenant. She tossed the letter into one of her drawers with indifference. 

Once again shaking off the stiffness in her upper body, she looked disapprovingly at her desk. She really didn’t have a choice but to sort through it. She hadn’t cleaned it in almost nine months. It used to be something she did every two months like clockwork, but that was a different time. 

That was when the task was enjoyable. That was when it was a fun little tradition. That was when a certain someone was still here. 

Asami tried to shake her mind from that someone, but it was unavoidable. Thoughts were bound to surface as she dug deeper into her desk, which seemed to serve as an unintended time capsule of her last several months. 

But she was ready now to sort through it. She was ready to start something new and exciting. If only she could find those documents. The first step would be getting through this damned mess. 

\- 

She decided to start with the only tidy pile on the desk. It contained papers from the first two months after that certain person’s departure. Asami made quick work of the first month’s papers and filed them away appropriately; everything was mostly in order anyway. She had worked well in that month - almost as if nothing had happened. In a way, it hadn’t hit her yet. She worked on designs with her dad. She began combat training with the first unit. She excelled. Life went on. 

\- 

Asami cringed before picking through the second month’s paperwork. She skimmed over the designs, knowing that she would barely remember them. This was the month that everything came crashing down all at once. She had gotten into a small spat with some of the young men in training, and then it hit her - someone else was supposed to be in this training with her, but they weren’t. She kept it together long enough to get home before reality fully caved in on her. 

Her best friend was gone. 

She spent the better part of that second month sifting through the few pieces of information she had for answers. Something about the whole situation just felt so wrong.] 

Her best friend vanished without a trace. Not a word to anyone. No sightings. No note. No letter. Just the standard gesture from Equalist deserters: the issue number and insignia of her Equalist uniform torn from the seams and placed atop the garb, which had been folded in a specific way. It was an unspoken rule in the movement to leave their items in such a way when deserting. It ensured that other Equalists got the message and wouldn’t assume foul play in the disappearance of one of their members. 

It still felt too impersonal for Asami. Her best friend almost never did anything by the book. Asami would likely have remained unconvinced that her friend actually deserted if it weren’t for one other fact - her best friend’s wristband had been left atop the uniform as well. 

To Asami, that wristband was like salt on a wound. There couldn’t have been a clearer message. 

Asami hadn't been the one to find the items. They had been left at a warehouse and found by two Equalists working security that evening. They had immediately reported it to the Lieutenant, who verified the issue number and reached out to the Satos with the news. 

Those were the facts Asami had to work with during the hell that was that second month. She had racked her brain to find something - anything - to give her clarity on the situation. It didn't make sense; that same morning was full of playfulness and poking. How did it devolve into this so quickly? 

Asami replayed their last conversation and final interactions in her head over and over again to no avail. There were no answers to be found there, and Asami’s sharp memory was finally proving to be fallible after all; after a month of pretending nothing had changed and then another month of picking apart her memories, she could no longer be sure if she was even remembering it the right way. Her doubts fused seamlessly with the memory with every attempted recollection. 

Had her friend been hiding something the whole time? Did her voice shake? Did she seem nervous that morning? Did her eyes shift when she called Asami her best friend? Was there any apology in her eyes? 

Did it even matter anymore? 

Asami shook herself from those soured memories. At least the answer to that last question was clear. It really didn’t matter anymore. 

She was gone, and Asami was here. 

She returned her focus to those month’s designs. She lightly traced over the margins, taking note of the way her father included random messages of love and encouragement in between his design comments. He had been incredibly attentive and supportive that month. They hadn’t said a word as to why; Hiroshi simply knew. He saw Asami falter, and he came in to support her until she could get back on her feet. It was one of the first times in years that Asami wasn’t pretending with her father; she truly needed his help then, and he was there for her all the way. 

\- 

The young innovator filed those papers away and moved to a hill on the other corner of her desk. There, she found work from the third month since her friend’s departure. She caught sight of the notes from her first motorcycle test run. That day was hard to forget. 

Asami had been coasting through the streets of Republic City and noticed a few Triads fleeing a robbery in a getaway car. Asami decided to test how fast the motorcycle really could be. 

It turned out that the vehicle was pretty damn fast. 

It also handled significantly better than her simple motor scooter back home. It didn’t take long for her to chase the Triads down and run them off the street into a light pole; they hadn’t been expecting such a small vehicle to be able to catch up to them. Asami knew better than to use her chi-blocking, as she hadn’t wanted to identify herself as an Equalist. Instead, Asami just knocked the Triads around and held them at bay until the police arrived. 

As luck would have it, the Chief of Police Lin Beifong was on that chase and thanked Asami personally for her assistance. After a brief discussion about Asami’s motorcycle, the Chief expressed interest in working with the Satos and Future Industries for technological upgrades in the police force. Asami was initially hesitant to work with a bending-dominated police force, but her father was insistent that she take the opportunity. 

"Make friends in high places," he had told her. "Help them see our value." 

Her connection with Chief Beifong paid off quickly, as evidenced by the many signed proposals on her desk. Asami and Beifong formulated a plan to bring non-benders back into the police force, which was entirely dominated by benders. The innovator cautiously proposed a chi-blocking unit for the force, and Beifong was surprisingly amenable to the idea if they could find a way to get public support and gain approval from the Council. 

Asami had also written proposals for task forces to combat Triad activity in primarily non-bending neighborhoods. She had been quite proud of one of these proposals and remembered how the final statement, _“Neglecting to protect vulnerable communities is as much a form of oppression as overtly causing harm,”_ struck a chord with the Chief. She said she didn't know when the Council would get to it or if they would be on board, but she would back it. She signed her name in support of the proposal without any request for revisions. 

Chief Beifong was a strong, determined, and driven woman, and their partnership reinvigorated Asami in ways that she didn't realize she needed. Asami wouldn't let herself think about how much she missed having an energy like Beifong's around. 

However, she could admit that her father had been right. Asami truly appreciated having an ally as powerful as the Chief. 

\- 

Asami moved to the pile from the fifth and six months. Asami had completed her combat training and decided to continue working on innovation and advancement operations rather than combat. Of course, she kept herself sharp by joining her team on raids, but found the missions to be rather unsatisfying. She refused to put much thought into why. She had moved on from that after the second month, right? 

She spied a design from the sixth month for a new machine to replace forklifts in order to improve efficiency and safety in the warehouses. Her father proposed looking into more maneuverability, separate arms, and domes to increase safety. After several back-and-forths, Asami presented Hiroshi with final designs, and he was so proud. 

As Asami flicked through the packet of different versions of these forklift replacements, she laughed softly to herself. There were doodles everywhere. She fondly remembered the day she made a particular set of sketches. 

She and Mako had stayed true to their goal of remaining friends, but she couldn’t help but still flirt with him once in a while. He didn’t seem to mind. They would meet to catch up a few times a month, and it didn’t take long for Mako’s younger brother Bolin to begin joining in. Bolin’s charm and energy were infectious, and they became fast friends. 

Asami also noticed another side of Mako come out when his brother was around. When Mako was on his own, he tended to stay serious and reserved. When the brothers were together, they got into all sorts of trouble. That included doodling on the sides of Asami’s sketches. 

Mako, full of mischief but lacking creativity, had written a simple “Hi Asami” on the corner of a page with a smiley face beneath it. Bolin, on the other hand, had decided to put his own flare on the sketch and drew a face on one of the domes of the forklift, noting that it looked like a head and that the arms made it look like a person. The bottom of the page also had a poorly-drawn man flexing his disproportionately large arm muscles. Bolin told Asami that it was a self-portrait. 

\- 

With a smile on her face, she filed those away in a drawer with other approved designs. The sixth month and onward had been strong for her, and she had many other designs signed off on by her father for prototyping or further testing. These included more improvements to the Equalist uniforms, several vehicle parts, and her most ambitious project - a chi-disruptor power core. 

Asami had examined her father’s “shock core,” which they hoped to add to weapons to deliver an adjustable electrical shock to stun or disable opponents, and she was inspired to take a different approach. These new cores were able to temporarily remove bending by disrupting the flow of chi. It had potential to level the playing field for non-benders in violent neighborhoods. In addition, they used less power than the shock cores and couldn’t be redirected by lightning benders. Asami’s prototypes were promising but were nowhere near where she wanted them to be. 

\- 

Asami paused from her desk organization to stretch her arms above her head and look at her progress; she was almost done. After sweeping dust off the now-visible desk surface, she straightened out her pen organizers and shifted the picture of her mother that she kept in the corner. 

It had been a challenging few months, but she didn't let it get to her. She continued working hard to make the city a better place. In the back of her mind, Asami wondered if her mother would be proud of her. 

She quickly moved away from that mental space. She wasn’t here to explore her emotions. She had begun cleaning her desk in order to get to a specific document and didn’t have time to get caught in a sea of her own feelings. 

The document she was looking for was predictably buried at the bottom of her desk. It was as if the fates had decided she needed to sort through this paper-lined time capsule of the past several months in order to get to this moment. 

It was poetic, in a way. 

It really had been symbolic to finally clean her desk. As much as she tried to deny it, her life had been in disarray for long enough - eight months, three weeks, and two days to be exact. She persevered, but she was tired of just staying afloat. It was time for a real change. 

Asami leaned into a half-sit on the edge of her desk and ran through the document one more time to confirm the numbers. It was going to be a big step, in more ways than one. She took a deep breath before dialing the number and waiting for an answer on the other side. 

_“Hello?”_

“Hi, Mako. It’s Asami.” 

_“Oh hey, Asami,”_ the firebender said, sounding surprised at the call. _“Is everything alright?”_

“Everything is fine. I actually have some news for you. You might want to be sitting down.” 

A slight shuffle came across the line. _“Okay?”_

Asami laughed to herself and rolled her eyes. She didn’t expect him to take it literally. “Well, I’ve had this in the works for a while and finally got it approved. How would you like to go pro?” 

Mako paused, clearly puzzled. _“You already know I've been trying to go pro for a while now. No roster spots? Not enough teams? Remember?”_

She rolled her eyes again. Being coy with him was fun but somewhat frustrating when he couldn’t keep up. “That’s not what I mean, silly,” she sighed audibly in jest. “I’ll try it this way. Let's say, hypothetically, that someone convinced several companies in the city to buy-in on the idea of league expansion. And let's say hypothetically that these companies were now looking to sponsor existing teams or create new teams under their company name. And let's say hypothetically that I happened to be a part of one of those companies. And let's say hypothetically that I, as a representative from one of these companies, called you up and asked if you would like to go pro. What would you say?" 

Several moments of silence passed, and Asami could only imagine that Mako was spending many of those seconds picking his jaw off the ground. 

Eventually, the firebender regained the ability to speak. _"I would say yes!"_

Asami heard shuffling on the line as Mako moved the phone away from his face to tell his brother the good news. Their exact conversation wasn't clear, but several whoops and excited shouts came across the line shortly after. 

Their enthusiasm was contagious, and Asami found herself smiling genuinely for the first time in a while. "Good. Now I just need a few things from you. First, tell Bolin that I say hello, and make sure he doesn't break anything. Your place is pretty small." She paused briefly at Mako's chuckle. "Next, you'll need to find a waterbender to complete the team. Then, I'll need you guys to approve the uniform designs." 

_"Absolutely! Anything! Oh man, Asami. I can't believe this. Thank you. I-"_

"Hold on, Mako. I'm not done yet." Asami took a deep breath and glanced over her shoulder at her now-clean desk. No more time capsule; it was time for new adventures. "We're probably going to have to let Bolin name the team." 

_"What? Why is that?"_

"To make up for him not being invited to go to dinner with you and me." She paused for a single nervous moment. "Tonight, if you're free?" 

_"Dinner? What?"_

"Remember what you agreed to do once you went pro?" 

_"Oh! Yeah."_ His inability to form words was sometimes endearing, and now was one of those times. _"Uhh."_

She let out a soft laugh. "Only if you want to, that is." 

_"I do!"_ he responded quickly. _"I did agree to take you out when I went pro, didn't I? I'm a man of my word."_ The confidence appeared to return to his voice. _"Tonight works for me. So, it's a date, then?"_

"It's a date." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I made the formatting decision to separate the months slightly for easy reading. I originally didn’t plan on it but thought, “Eh, why not?”  
> -If you think you see an obvious inconsistency between something I hinted at in the last chapter and something said in this chapter, it was on purpose. I tried to make it obvious without straight-up announcing it.  
> -It’s very common to replay a memory in one’s mind so many times that it changes.  
> \---  
>  _This chapter was written with the help of songs like:_  
>  Elder Brother - Throw Me to the Wolves


	13. Chapter 12: Same Current

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _In the previous chapter: Eight months, three weeks, and two days have passed, and Asami definitely hasn't been counting._  
>  \---  
>  **In this chapter:** More time passes, and Korra has never felt more alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many apologies for the delay. I’m sorry to say this, but I anticipate that there may be a few delays here and there for the next few chapters. My mind has been more consumed by my academic writing for the time being, and that will be taking priority until my dissertation is complete and defended. I will still be tapping into my creative writing to take a break from my research, but I’ll just have less energy to spare due to balancing dissertation and work for a bit.
> 
> My writing process is basically the same "literary abandon" process I used when I used to participate in Nanowrimo - after extensive outlines, just write, write, write with shameless abandon until the story is done while looking back as little as possible. Then I got into a “smoothing over” phase, where I go back and put in notes or comments about bigger changes I’d like to make to earlier chapters. Then I go into the revision phase, which involves going back and re-writing my way through the changes I want to make (I say re-write, but I’d say 50% of the revision is the same as the original; I just get better flow from re-writing sections rather than trying to choppily edit through bits and pieces). This story has already been fully written and “smoothed over,” and I am posting the chapters after going through the revision process for each one. It’s usually a quick process, but I just need to be in a creative writing mode rather than in my academic writing mode to do that. I promise I’ll see this through.
> 
> So I thank you all for your patience and for going on this journey with me. I love your comments and support. Let’s keep this adventure going!

As difficult as it was to admit in the beginning, fire was undeniably Korra’s favorite element. What she once considered to be the element of power and destruction turned out to be so much more than that. Of course, she could not have gotten to this point without first mastering two other elements. 

Water was her first element, and - as a native of the Water Tribes - it was understandable how naturally it came to her. Even when she wasn’t actively trying to waterbend, her connection to water felt constant. The techniques were challenging for her to master, but her affinity towards the element was undeniable. 

Earth was her second element, and it came much more easily than waterbending did. While her connection with water felt innate and natural, her connection to the earth felt steady, simple, and straightforward. 

Fire was a surprise to Korra. She expected wielding the element to be tricky. The destructive potential that she carried in her hands was utterly terrifying; it was as if the element of fire straddled the line between life and death itself. 

Water had a natural ebb and flow. Earth was steady, powerful, and reliable. Fire, though, had a life of its own. It was lively and wild, daring its wielder to contain or control it. This was what had intimidated Korra the most, but therein eventually laid the secret to Korra’s firebending mastery. 

Fire was alive. Fire was energy. 

It was life. 

To control it meant to respect it - to cherish it as dearly as she cherished life. Fire to Korra was not about threatening death and destruction but about honoring the light and energy of life itself. 

Korra excelled at firebending and progressed through the rest of her training quickly. She was eager to move forward, and it was as though the fire rewarded her zeal. She could only hope that her firebending master would reward her as well. 

Her chances were good, if the three downed White Lotus guards sprawled around the ring were any indication. Their armor and own firebending prevented any serious injuries, but Korra certainly didn’t hold back from roughing them up; that was what was expected of her. The examination went smoothly, and she felt confident that she had demonstrated the full range of her skills. Nevertheless, her firebending master’s expression from the observation deck remained inscrutable as always; he was an excellent teacher, but his stoicism was borderline unnerving at times. 

Korra bit back her hopefulness in favor of a more humble and demure facade as she jogged closer to the deck. Knowing that she would gain no information from the old firebending master's expression, she instead turned to the more welcoming presence of the grinning woman beside him. 

Master Katara - the woman in Korra's visions and the wife of Korra's previous incarnation - was Korra’s waterbending master, but their bond ended up running much deeper than that. Initially, Korra wondered if meeting Katara would trigger additional memories of her past life; she had witnessed and felt Katara and Aang’s love for one another through Aang’s eyes once before, and she wasn’t sure what to expect when seeing the woman in person for the first time. 

To Korra’s surprise, meeting Katara didn’t trigger any memories or any sense of familiarity beyond Korra’s initial dreams and visions. Instead, their bond was natural; Katara may have been in her 80’s, but she was eternally youthful and fiery at heart. Katara’s patience was well balanced by her high expectations. 

What Korra appreciated about their relationship most was how much respect Katara showed to Korra as an individual. Korra never once felt that Katara only cared about her because she was the Avatar. She always trusted that Katara was invested in her own journey as a person. Even after Korra passed her waterbending test, Katara continued to visit the compound-turned-training-facility to spend time with her or support her in the rest of her training. 

Even now, during Korra’s feeble attempt at patience, Katara looked at her young pupil with nothing but pride and kindness. It was enough reassurance to sooth the young Avatar until her firebending master finally spoke. 

“Your technique is excellent, as always," he said plainly. 

She met his flatness with a neutral expression. His positive feedback didn't feel like much of a compliment. She simply waited for him to continue. 

"You have clearly mastered all the firebending skills expected of you." 

At this point, Korra's confusion at his lack of inflection took over. "So, I passed? Shouldn't we be celebrating...or be happy? Or something?" 

The firebending master’s face remained immobile while another man beside him - the senior White Lotus guard in charge of this compound - spoke up instead. “You may have done enough to pass skills mastery for 3 of the 4 elements, Korra, but I’m wondering how ready you are to take on the full role of the Avatar itself.” 

Korra’s shoulders slumped somewhat. “Is this about the spirit stuff again?” 

The two grizzled men nodded sternly. 

Korra tried to keep her attention on Katara, who had been smiling warmly during the entire exchange. It gave Korra enough strength to plead her case. “I’m trying my best, but it just doesn’t come that easy,” she offered. “I’ve only been doing this Avatar thing for a little over a year.” 

“That’s precisely our point,” the firebending master said. “You may be beyond the age in which the Avatar is traditionally revealed to the world, but your…” he paused and rubbed at his beard “...late arrival changed things enough. We don’t know what might happen if we send an unprepared Avatar out in today’s world.” 

“But I’m not being sent out to the world. It’ll just be to Republic City for airbending training,” Korra insisted. She was trying her best to keep her impatience in check. “Maybe one of the reasons I’m having trouble with the spiritual stuff is because I haven’t been able to airbend yet. Airbending might be a good way for me to learn.” 

The men remained silent, considering Korra’s arguments. Meanwhile, she tried once more to turn pleadingly toward Katara for backup before noticing that the waterbending master was now looking past Korra with a glimmer in her eye. 

A soft grunt brought everyone’s attention to the still-downed White Lotus guards Korra had defeated minutes ago. Two had been able to gingerly drag themselves to sit against a nearby wall. The third had not been injured too badly but decided that he wanted to stay on the ground for as long as possible until the healer arrived and dragged him by the back of his armor to the wall alongside his fellow guards. 

The healer today happened to be Kya, Katara’s second child and a phenomenal waterbender. She cast a quick grin to her mother before locking eyes with Korra with a confident smirk. “You know, Korra has a point. My father mastered all four elements in only a few months all while travelling the world and trying to stop a war.” 

“Yes, Kya. That may be true, but let’s not forget that Avatar Aang’s case was unique,” the White Lotus leader said. “He had no choice but to learn on the go _because_ of the war.” 

The firebending master chimed in. “He also had a strong grasp on the spiritual side from the beginning. He had been training as a bender for most of his life, even if it was only for one element at the time. Korra has only been able to bend recently.” 

Finally, after having listened to the entire exchange in complete silence, Katara spoke up. “Yes, Aang’s journey - our journey - was unique.” Her warm smile deepened as she looked toward Korra. “As is Korra’s.” She turned her head to face the men beside her, the loops in her now-grey hair swaying lightly. “Each Avatar’s story is meant to be different. There was once a time when the Avatars were expected to travel between nations to learn the ways of the world they lived in as they trained in each element. The world is different now than it used to be, and the fact that Korra’s journey is so unique may be yet another sign of that.” 

Everyone stayed silent, their respect for the waterbender evident in their attentiveness. 

“Master Fu, if you believe Korra has mastered firebending, then it may be best that we allow her to train airbending with Tenzin. From what he told me, she seemed to have made some spiritual progress on Air Temple Island and hasn’t since. The Avatar spirit works in mysterious ways, and it may be its way of telling us that she is needed back in Republic City.” 

Katara’s statement seemed to satisfy the two men. The firebender nodded definitively towards the White Lotus leader, who turned back to Korra with a stiff smile. “Congratulations, Korra. We will prepare to send you to Republic City in a few days. We have faith that you will make the world proud.” His tone remained stern, but there were no hints of insincerity in his voice. 

Korra folded her arms in front of her and bowed respectfully. “Thank you.” 

She remained in her bowed position for a minute before looking up to make sure the two men had left. Then, she immediately snapped up and jogged over to Kya to wrap her in a joyous hug. 

The older waterbender returned the embrace with a chuckle. 

“I didn’t know you’d be here today, Kya.” 

The two pulled apart, and Kya gave the Avatar a playful nudge in the shoulder. “You know I wouldn’t want to miss the show. Plus, I know they’d probably need me here anyway, knowing what you’d do to these poor guards. Too bad there isn’t a way for me to heal a bruised ego,” she said with a wink. Kya then left to return to her healing duties but not before stopping to give her mother a hug as the old waterbending master made her way towards Korra. 

“You did very well, Korra,” Katara said, the wrinkles in her face accentuating her smile. 

“Thanks, Katara.” She scratched at the back of her neck. “And thank you for standing up for me. I thought for a second that they really weren’t going to let me go.” 

“I’m sure you would have found a way,” she chuckled. 

“I guess so,” she sighed. It was a harmless and affectionate jab, but Korra winced as her mind filled with thoughts about her reputation being that of a person who's good at disappearing without a trace. “Did you mean what you said earlier, Katara? That Republic City is the best place for me to figure out this spiritual stuff and Avatar stuff?” 

She looked at her young pupil thoughtfully, noticing how Korra’s shoulders tensed and her normally bright eyes hazed with uncertainty. “You know, Aang had a hard time coming to terms with being the Avatar. Everyone knows how he ran away from the Air Temple and everything that happened after that. What people don’t remember as much is how guilty Aang felt about everything, especially after the war ended. None of us really had a chance to process how much our lives and the world had changed until the war was finally over. When the dust finally settled, Aang finally had the chance to think about what it meant to be the Avatar, and you know what? He was afraid, and his guilt about the past fed into his fear.” 

Korra thought back to what Aang told her when she was still unconscious from triggering the Avatar state for the first time: _‘I was famous for running away for a while, you know. But the secret part is that I wasn’t just unsure at the beginning. I wasn't sure for a while after, too.’_ She didn’t want to interrupt Katara’s story and so simply nodded in response. 

“I know the road has been tough for you already, Korra. An Avatar’s life is rarely ever simple,” she laughed. There wasn’t a hint of cynicism or bitterness in her tone at all. It was actually rather uplifting. “It’s okay to be afraid. It’s okay not to feel sure. Just be true to yourself and let your heart guide you. You’ve told me before that you’re worried about going back, but I can tell by how hard you’ve been training that you want this. It’s not hard to see that your heart is still in Republic City. It’s time for you to go back.” 

“I know. You’re right,” Korra said, trying to absorb Katara’s words to bolster her resolve. “Thank you, Katara.” She wrapped her mentor in a gentle hug. “I should go spend some time with my parents before I have to leave. Will I see you again before I go?” 

The waterbending master pulled away from the hug and nodded. “Kya and I can come visit you and your parents the day after tomorrow. How does that sound?” 

“That sounds great,” Korra chirped with a grin before heading away from the training grounds. 

\--- 

One of Korra’s greatest worries about returning to the South Pole was having to live in the compound by herself. Fortunately, Tenzin was mindful - almost apologetic - with regards to this. After several exchanges with the White Lotus, Tenzin assured Korra that she would be able to live with her parents if she wanted. The White Lotus would continue to maintain all the compounds in the North and South Poles in order not to rouse suspicion that an Avatar had been found, and Korra would train daily at the compound closest to her. 

She accepted the arrangement without hesitation. Even though she had run away, Korra knew she could repair whatever strain her absence put on her relationship with her parents. In a way, they weren’t even surprised to hear that she had escaped. Despite being confined to isolation as a child, Korra had a knack for mischief and stretching the rules even back then. 

And now, one of the fruits of that mischief was tackling her like a furry, slobbering battering ram as Korra tried to enter the door to her parents’ home. 

“Naga!” Korra laughed in glee as the multi-ton polar bear dog greeted her human. She allowed the loving beast to get the licks and snuggles out of her system before finally getting up off the ground and giving her one last rub between her big, black eyes. “I missed you, too, girl.” 

A rumbling chuckle caught Korra’s attention, and she looked up to find her father leaning against a doorway. His broad shoulders bounced up and down with each laugh. “You two act like you didn’t just see each other this morning.” 

“Yeah! And morning was so long ago, right girl?” Korra said to Naga, her fluffy white tail wagging slowly in rhythm with her human’s words. 

Korra then turned her attention to her father and wrapped him up in a quick, vengeful hug. She was too fast for him, and he couldn’t raise his hands to push her away in time. “Oh man, you’re all soggy.” 

She hummed in confirmation, making sure to rub as much polar bear dog slobber into him as possible. 

He finally relented and wrapped his hulking arms around Korra and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “Let’s make sure we get your mother after this,” he whispered at a non-whisper volume. 

The reaction from a disembodied voice in the other room was instantaneous. “Tonraq! Don’t you dare!” 

“Damn. Busted,” he said with a smirk before nudging Korra away playfully. “Go help your mother in the kitchen. I’ll be back in a little bit, and you can tell us about how you probably passed your firebending test over dinner.” 

“Sure thing, Dad.” 

Korra made her way to the kitchen and spied her mother Senna hovering over a pot of stew. For a moment, she mused about how quickly she acclimated to living with her parents after returning to the Southern Water Tribe. When living in the compound as a child, Korra was only able to visit her parents a handful of times a year and so never really considered this home to be her own. However, she still managed to feel connected to her parents during all those years. 

She had Naga to thank for that. 

Being a child of unlimited energy and little to do at the compound led Korra to discover many secrets of the facility that no one else seemed to know about - one of which was a small hole in the back corner wall that looked to the outside world; it wasn’t big enough to escape though, but acted as an accidental window of sorts. One day, at the age of 8, Korra was poking her head out of the hole - as she did every few days for no particular reason - and she was surprised by two beady black eyes and a wet nose staring back at her. So, a young Korra did the only logical thing she could think of: she broke into the kitchen and stole some snacks for her fuzzy little friend on the other side. 

Korra never learned the story behind why a polar bear dog pup was wandering on it's own or why it continued to return. Certainly, the food Korra shared through the hole was an incentive, but the most surprising part was how Naga stayed and listened to anything Korra had to say. Over a few months, they had gotten into the routine of meeting through the hole every other day; Korra would share some food, and Naga would sit and listen to Korra talk for hours - always attentive with inquisitive eyes and a slightly cocked head. 

The next time that Korra was permitted to visit her parents, she found that her furry through-the-wall friend had somehow followed her. It was then that Korra got the idea to use Naga to transport letters to her parents from the compound every few weeks. 

Why was it that her parents never questioned that their potential Avatar daughter now had a polar bear dog as both a companion and a delivery vehicle? Korra would never know. Her parents rarely seemed surprised by anything that happened in their daughter’s life. They quickly accepted that Naga would be delivering letters and would expect a strip of jerky in return every few weeks. They certainly wouldn’t complain at being able to hear from their daughter more frequently than typically permitted by the White Lotus. 

This routine eased Korra’s mind when she fled the compound at the age of 13. She made sure to write her parents a letter and send it with Naga. She didn’t tell them where she was going but just promised them that she was safe and doing this for herself. 

When Korra returned to the Southern Water Tribe this time around, she shouldn’t have been surprised to see that her parents had taken Naga in. According to their accounts, however, Naga simply refused to leave. They didn’t mind her presence and even admitted that she really was a good listener. She may have even saved Korra’s parents from a few arguments by serving as a skilled, impartial, and silent sounding board to air frustrations towards. 

Korra was suddenly snapped from her thoughts when her mother noticed her standing in the doorway. Rather than greeting her daughter with a grin, she pointed her spoon in Korra's direction in threat. "Your father told you to hug me with Naga's slobber all over you, didn't he?" 

"Um…" Korra feigned innocence and held her hands behind her back, trying to ignore the several damp, darkened spots on her shirt. “No?” 

Senna rolled her eyes with a good-natured grin and returned to stirring her stew. “I swear, you two are just too much of a handful for me.” She sampled a bit of her dish and tweaked the seasonings. “So how would you like to celebrate?” 

“Celebrate what?” This confusion wasn’t feigned. 

“Passing your firebending test, silly!” 

She huffed, indignant. “I didn’t tell you if I passed or not.” 

“Oh, don’t pretend to be all modest now, sweetie. We all know that you have your father’s big head. We know you passed. Now come here and try this.” 

Korra sauntered over to the cooktop and graciously took the spoonful of stew. She nodded in approval as she let the warmth and comfort of her mother’s cooking seep into her body, something she knew she’d soon miss. 

This triggered a slight tension in Korra’s chest. Now that the excitement from the day was over, the reality of her situation began to set in. 

She was finally going back to Republic City. 

For the most part, Korra was excited. Not a day went by that she hadn’t thought about her eventual return. She worked hard and powered through her training as quickly as possible so that she could eventually go back. However, somewhere along the way, her motivation shifted from returning to a place that felt like home and repairing the relationships she severed to going to a place where she could complete her Avatar training. In a little over a year’s time, her priorities had changed. 

_She_ had changed. In what ways? She wasn’t sure. 

But she knew she was about to find out as soon as she left the protective cocoon that was her life in the South Pole. 

For now, though, Korra could only focus on the present. She plucked herself from her thoughts, hanging onto Katara’s words from earlier in the day and Aang’s words from over a year ago. 

_‘It’s not hard to see that your heart is still in Republic City. It’s time for you to go back.’_

_‘You are needed, Korra. Seek your truth; running won’t get you there.’_

Just like it did years ago, the city was calling out to her. The inexplicable current was pulling her back into the Republic City. Whether it was to return to a place she once considered home or to become a fully realized Avatar or something else entirely - she didn’t know. She didn’t need to know. She just needed to follow that same current. 

Until then, she could savor the last few days she had with her family. 

Senna had watched as Korra went from approving of the dish to getting lost in her thoughts to returning to the present with a mischievous glint in her eye. She had allowed Korra to get too close to her, and now it was too late. 

The Avatar wrapped her mother in a tight, soggy hug as the older woman screamed loudly and tried to squirm from her grasp. “Korra!” 

From somewhere else in the home, Korra could hear her father’s booming laughter, and it warmed her even more than her mother’s stew. 

She was going to miss this. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might be going back on my short endnote thing. I just love interacting with the community on this site. I’m loving the comments and will make sure I respond to each one. :)
> 
> Anyway, this chapter is a good place for me to share that a few of the biggest plot questions I had to making this canon deviation work are:  
> \- What’s a good premise for Korra, a random non-bender from the Southern Tribe, to be in Republic City with the Equalists?  
> \- How do I get Korra to discover that she is the Avatar?  
> \- Most importantly, how do I bring in Naga (because she’s the best) in light of Korra’s changed backstory?
> 
> Yes, my plot-designing priorities are top-notch. Naga is a very good girl.
> 
> \---  
>  _This chapter was written with the help of songs like:_  
>  _The Mezingers - I Don’t Wanna Be an Asshole Anymore_


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